Get Backers: Surviving the Aftermath
by Gaurdian Rowen
Summary: A catastrophe shakes the city of Shinjuku. The Get Backers attempt to keep the peace but are busy dealing with demons of their own as they fight amongst each other due to the power of a man named Lucifer. A Seven Sins story.
1. Chapter 1: A Time to be Merry

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the **actual cataclysm** then it will return to the **actual events before** the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the **Aftermath** which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of series (anime) so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 1: A Time to Be Merry

Part One : **Mugenjou Sept. 17 12:12 p.m.**

Makubex's eyes were wide in panic. For once in his life he had no idea of what to do. His eyes roamed over all of the camera monitors on their virtual projections that were set to view the outside of Mugenjou. The walls were packed with people trying to get in. The whole city was seeking shelter now. He was on the Shinjuku city level of Mugenjou trying to sort everything out. He could hear the faint roar of their voices filtering in over the walls. Makubex listened to the Get Backers panicked voices in his earphones as they argued, cursed, and tried to stop this madness. They would not make it. He looked quickly to the timer that floated on a virtual screen just above his head. Less than thirty minuets. They could not make it in time. It was impossible. Makubex saw his hands shaking. Was he scared? He pressed the button to a different channel on his headphones.

"Emishi, are all the inhabitants of Lower Town moved?" Static. "Emishi, Sakura, answer me!"

"We're ready here Makubex. The Core is filled with them." Sakura's voice came over the wavelength. She paused for a moment, "Don't be frightened, we are going to help you."

"I'm going to have to let the city inhabitants in. There will be a panic but try to keep the riots down on our side."

Emishi's voice came next, "Let them in….is it already too late?"

"There's no time. They won't make it."

Makubex got quickly to his feet and ran across the streets to the main gate of Mugenjou where Juubei and Toshiki were standing guard at the barricaded entrance.

"Makubex, they're going to bust down the doors if they keep at it." Toshiki said, then he pointed to some of the weak points in the door, "I don't know how much longer the doors will stand."

"It's fine, we're going to let them in. When we open the doors, take them immediately to the lower levels. Don't let them wander about. I know I'm asking a lot but we can't let them die out there."

Makubex climbed up to the top of the wall and gazed out at the screaming wailing masses of Shinjuku. He moved as close to the edge of the wall as he dared then typed out a command into a virtual keyboard that appeared at his finger tips. Monitors displaying his image popped up.

"Please be silent and listen!" He waited for the crowd to notice him and then it quieted down, "I am Makubex, ruler of Lower Town. We are going to let you in. Once you pass these gates—" He paused for the relieved cheer to die down, "Once you enter these gates you will be subject to our rules. For your own safety do not rush the doors. You will be immediately conducted to the sheltered areas beneath the city. Stay in a group and do _NOT_ panic. Any deviances will be dealt with."

Makubex sighed as he closed the monitors. He started back down the wall and pressed another button, "Juubei, let them in."

Makubex did not have long to try and help sort the crowd with Juubei and Toshiki as Emishi came panicked over his com.

"The Beltliners are coming down in droves in East A 45."

"Raitei save us!" Makubex felt like he should either cry or tear his hair out. This was too much. He glanced once to see that Juubei and Toshiki had their hands full with the people crowding in form the city. He was relieved to see Teshimine, Masaki, and Kanou show up.

"The streets have been cleared. There is no one from Lower Town left on the top levels." Teshimine reported.

"Teshimine, Kanou, help Juubei and Toshiki get these people down. Masaki, come with me. The Beltliners are flooding down in East A 45." Makubex checked his watch with a harried expression.

Masaki shot off at a run with Makubex at his heels. They arrived just as the first group muscled their way past the protective barriers Makubex had placed on the entrances to the Beltline.

"Get out of our way!" One man yelled.

"I can not let you go any further." Makubex stood as tall as he could.

"What's this, a runt and a wannabe? The two of you alone can't stop us."

"I'm betting we could." Masaki popped his knuckles and smirked.

A lone man moved forward, he bowed almost politely, "Be polite gentlemen, this is the Lord of Lower Town you are threatening." He looked up, "Would you sentence us to death young lord by barring our path to safety?"

"Are you asking me for mercy?" Makubex's brow furrowed with anger, "Hasn't Lower Town begged you for mercy for years and not received any?"

Someone started to say a snide remark but was cut off as someone hit him in the ribs.

"We will not mock you by asking for your mercy Makubex but we merely ask for an armistice until this entire cataclysm is over." The tall lanky man bowed low to Makubex once more, "If you let us die, you will be committing genocide and that is far worse than we have ever been."

Masaki looked to his right to see Makubex with his eyes narrowed, "Makubex?"

Makubex glanced down at his watch. Tick, tick, tick….time was running out, "Can you assure me that there will be no trouble?"

The man smiled widely, "There will be no trouble until this situation is over. You have our word."

Some of the Beltliners started an argumentive murmur but they were silenced by the others.

"Who are you?"

"They call me Lucifer."

"Stay in levels F 22b through F 24c. I don't want to see any of you mixing with the others. I'll hold you to your word Lucifer."

"We understand and will comply Lord of Lower Town. We thank you for your generosity."

Masaki stepped aside and let the group filter into Lower Town. He put a hand on Makubex's shoulder, "Are you sure you made the right decision?"

"No. But we would have wasted too much time fighting them here. There are fortifications to be readied to protect the lower levels or we'll all be dead." Makubex watched them go then saw another group pushing through the barriers, "They won't do anything yet. It would do them no good."

"Don't worry. When the time comes, Teshimine and I have your back…Lord of Lower Town." Masaki chuckled, "Slick words for a worm wouldn't you say?"

Makubex let a small smile cross his face. Masaki was trying to cheer him up, "Come, we have to see if all the people are inside yet."

"What about Ginji and the others?"

"They won't be able to stop it in time but they'll make it here. I know they will. We'll keep the doors open until the last minute."

Part Two: **Shinjuku Sept. 12**

Ginji woke and rubbed his eyes with a loud yawn. He sat up. As he dressed, he kept thinking that perhaps there was something that he was forgetting. He jogged into the main room of the apartment where Ban was sitting lazily on the couch with his arms along the back and a bowl of cold ramen on the small table before him. They had managed to upgrade their apartment from dirt cheap one room to a little cheap two room. Ginji flew at him with open arms.

"Goooood morning, Ban-chan!"

"Oi, Ginji, lay off!" Ban pried the chibi off his head then gave him a lazy smile. It was Ginji's ritualistic morning hug, "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, how about—" Ginji cut himself off from the rest of his sentence as he saw Shido enter the room buffeting his damp hair with a towel, his smile brightened, "Shido! I didn't know you were here, too! When did you arrive?"

"Last night." Shido exchanged glances with Ban, "I came to visit."

"Ah." Ginji looked around there was no evidence that anyone had slept in the living room, "Where did you sleep, we only have two rooms and….oh…" Ginji's brain put two and two together again this time getting four, "I see…well…um…I'm going to head on to the Honky Tonk now. See ya there." Ginji grabbed his jacket from the chair by the door and fled the scene.

"We'll be there in a bit Ginji." Ban waved a hand at him as he ran.

-----------------------------------------

Ginji walked down the sidewalk to the Honky Tonk and entered with a large smile, "Hello Paul-san, Natumi-chan!"

"Good morning Ginji, bright and early for once I see." Paul set a cup of coffee down on the counter.

Ginji put a hand behind his head and grinned, "Yeah."

"Greetings, Ginji-san."

Ginji looked over at a nearby table to see Kazuki, Juubei, and Toshiki sitting at it, "Kazu-chan!" He hurried over.

"Hey, you forgot your coffee." Paul shook his head, "Not like you need it."

"Oh, right." Ginji darted back to the counter and grabbed the cup before returning to their table, "So what are you guys doing here?" He beamed at them.

"Waiting for you, Ban, and Shido, or have you forgotten what day it is today?" Kazuki took a sip from his cup with a polite smile.

"You know, I kept thinking that I was forgetting something." Ginji put a hand to his chin, "Hm, now what was it?"

"Need a hint Ginji?" Toshiki smiled.

"No, no. I got it, um, …is it….uh…Kazu's birthday?" Ginji fumbled in his mind for the right answer.

Juubei smiled this time, "Not quite Ginji-kun, try again."

Ginji sat in mental turmoil when he heard Kazuki laugh, "It's the celebration of the day you and Ban completed your very first job."

"That's right." Ginji looked thoughtful for a moment, "Man I can't believe I forgot."

The door to the Honky Tonk jingled it's bells announcing the arrival of Ban and Shido. Ban stretched and gave Paul a nod hello," Ready to go?"

"We're ready." Kazuki and his entourage stood.

"Where are we going?" Ginji looked confused.

"To Mugenjou, or did you forget that everyone is going to celebrate. Geez, Ginji sometimes I wonder if your brain works at all." Ban sighed and shook his head.

"If we are ready, we should go. The others are waiting for us." Juubei turned to face the door.

"Besides, I heard Sakura was making dinner. I bet she cooks as fine as she looks." Toshiki laughed as Juubei turned to glare at him. It was his goal in life to torment Juubei as much as he could. The guy was just too serious for his own good.

"Now, now." Kazuki held up his hands, "No fighting today."

"I can't wait to see Makubex and Sakura again. It's been a long time." Ginji jumped up from his chair, "Come on, let's go!"

End Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2 :Sake, Sleep, and the Morning

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the **actual cataclysm** then it will return to the **actual events before** the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the **Aftermath** which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of series (anime) so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!

Yes, this is Ban/Shido (and vice versa), Kazuki/Juubei/Toshiki (in various combinations of), Masaki/Teshimine, a fluffy Ginji/Makubex, Akabane/Kagami and a kinda stalkery one sided Akabane/Ginji (everyone loves Ginji hehheheheh) Don't flame me for it, this story is written for someone who asked for it.

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 2: Sake, Sleep, and the Morning After

Part One: **Shinjuku Sept. 17 11:45 p.m.**

Ban kicked open yet another door and searched the room. No, it was not there. He cursed and darted back into the hall. Himiko who had just exited a room down the hall shook her head. Not there either. Where was it?

"It's not on the second floor." Kazuki's voice filtered down from the top of the stairs.

"Someone find the damned thing!" Ban went to kick in another door when he heard Shido.

"There's a hidden basement level."

Ban turned to see the Beast Master approach him with a mouse balancing on his hand, "The way down has been blocked. We'll have to force an entry."

"Good job, Shido!" Ginji smiled brightly.

"It's not a good job yet. Hurry and show us, we don't have much time left." Himiko raced up to them, "Where's the way down?"

The mouse jumped off of Shido's hand and went scurrying across the ground. They followed it to a wall. The mouse ran right through it. Akabane stepped forward.

"Allow me."

He made two slices with his hand and the door, along with anything that had been blocking it from behind, fell into tiny little pieces. Ginji shrank back once again frightened by the power that Akabane used with effortless ease. They rushed down the stairs only to find themselves in a long corridor full of rooms.

"This is just great! We don't have time to check all these!" Ban shouted annoyed.

"Don't talk; get checking unless you want to be so much pile of ash." Himiko raced down the hall to start in the middle.

"Lady Poison's right Ban-kun, we don't have the time to complain." Kazuki ran toward some doors.

"Don't tell me what to do, Thread-boy!" Ban kicked open a door with a little too much force and sent it flying off its hinges

Ginji stood and watched for a moment as everyone was frantically searching rooms. He wondered briefly what would happen if they did not find it in time. Makubex had said that from the amounts of material stolen that this bomb was equal to if not more destructive than the one he had built. So what exactly did that mean? It's not as if that bomb had exploded. He was torn from his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. Ginji turned only to wilt. Akabane smiled at him.

"Shouldn't we be helping too, Ginji-kun?"

Part Two: **Mugenjou Sept. 12**

Sakura looked up as one of the perimeter cameras turned onto the main monitor. She smiled to see the Getbackers heading toward the main complex. Turning to Makubex who was still sitting before the main computer she spoke softly.

"Makubex, they're here."

She received no answer and the young man did not even look her way. It was as if he had not heard her at all. Sakura noticed with sudden worry that his fingers were lying still against the computer keys.

"Makubex?"

Sakura moved over to him and sat still for a moment. Reaching out, she moved the interface visor from his eyes to set it against his forehead. His eyes were closed. Sakura smiled and shook her head. He had fallen asleep again. Gently she put her hand on his shoulder and shook him. He started to; eyes open wide with a sudden panic. He blinked as he saw Sakura.

"Is something the matter, Sakura?"

"They're here." She crossed her arms, "You're supposed to go lie down when you sleep. Don't make me have to tell Juubei that you're working yourself to death again."

Makubex's face broke out in a worried grin at the thought of having to listen to another one of Juubei's long old fashioned lectures, "I'm sorry."

"I'll excuse you this one time." Sakura smiled again.

"Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting. It would be rude." Makubex stood then held out his hand to help her up.

-----------------------------------------

Ginji who had made it to the main door first by running ahead excitedly raised back his hand to knock only to have the door disappear before his knuckles could make contact. He jumped up happily to see Emishi's grinning goofy face. He turned into a tare and glomped him.

"Emishi-chan!"

"Well look who took their time showing up today." Emishi waved at the group as soon as Ginji let go, "You know, I'm the only one allowed to be stylishly late."

"Stylish isn't what I would call it." Shido crossed his arms but there was a slight grin across his face.

"Aw, you're no fun Shido." Emishi pulled a frowning face, "You shouldn't be telling other people's secrets aloud like that."

"Are you going to let us in sometime today?" Ban raised an eyebrow bored.

"Well, I was thinking about letting all of you stay out here all—" Emishi started when they all pushed past him, "Hey! Hey! I'm supposed to be guarding this door!"

"It's alright Emishi-kun, we won't tell the others about your poor performance as a guard." Kazuki laughed.

They entered the complex and following Emishi came toward its center. Ginji looked down the long corridor that they were in to see Makubex and Sakura slowly walking toward them. He took off at a dead run.

"Sakura-chan! Maku-chan!"

Makubex's eyes went wide and he held up his hands as Ginji plowed right into him knocking them both to the ground with his high speed hug.

Ban walked up slowly and looked down amused to see the sight while Sakura was trying to help detangle them. He laughed, "Geez, Ginji, I didn't know you were that happy to see the brat. Maybe you should get a room first."

"That's not funny Ban-chan." Ginji whined as he finally got sat up, "How was I supposed to know he'd fall over?"

"Look at him moron. Does he look like he can take one of your flying hugs of death and not fall down?" Ban rolled his eyes.

"Everyone else can." Ginji was trying to save what was left of his dignity.

"I barely can Ginji-san and Makubex is smaller than me." Kazuki put a hand on Ginji's shoulder then helped him up.

"Ok, ok. No hard feelings right Maku-chan? Maku-chan?" Ginji looked down to see that Makubex was still lying on the floor. He was not moving.

"Eeeeeeee!" Ginji turned white then transformed into a panicking tare, "I killed Maku-chan! What am I going to do? WHAT AM I GOING TO DOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Chill out Ginji, he's fine." Ban sighed, "Yeesh, you get excitable don't you."

Ginji turned back to normal to see Sakura helping Makubex to his feet. He was holding the back of his head.

"Makubex, you're ok!" Ginji flew at him again, knocking him back to the floor.

"Ginji-san please calm down before you really do hurt him." Kazuki helped the dizzy Makubex back to his feet as Ban pried Ginji off.

"Seriously, get a room for that Ginji. Preferably one with a cushioned floor." Ban laughed.

"That's not funny, Ban-chan!" Ginji turned red.

"But I thought it was very amusing." Shido commented with a smirk.

"Shido, you too?" Ginji pulled a sad, hurt face.

Kazuki chuckled, "Come now Ginji-san. They were just playing."

"Well, now that we're all here, how about we get something to eat." Emishi put a hand to his stomach, "I don't know about any of you, but I'm famished and the heavenly scent of Sakura's divine cooking his floating in."

"Yes, she did work most of the day on it." Makubex, having recovered from being tackled, smiled.

Sakura blushed slightly as most everyone turned and gave her an appreciative look, "If everyone's ready, you can follow me."

"Sakura-chan, I can't wait to taste your delicious food!" Ginji hopped up and down at her side as they walked.

As they entered the storage room now turned dining hall, mouths dropped and eyes widened to see the long table with a delicious looking feast strew over its length. Ginji and Ban were taken to the head of the table where two tall chairs were waiting. The others sat to either side of the two Getbackers with Shido to Ban's immediate left and Makubex to Ginji's right. Ginji and Emishi attacked the food with a merciless vengeance. Ban was able to restrain himself only for a moment more then they before he too joined the attack. Soon the banquet table was a shambles of crumbs, dirty plates, and loud belches from certain unnamed people. Then the rounds of sake came. Sakura had decided that after the meal, someone should keep watch. She left for the computer room leaving the boys behind. Well, before ten, most everyone was wasted.

Ban, Shido, Ginji, Toshiki, and surprisingly enough Kazuki were in a loud drunken uproar talking about old times and new. Juubei was trying not to get drunk but could not refuse any cups offered to him by Kazuki and any that Toshiki goaded him into. He was becoming sufficiently buzzed. Makubex who perhaps should have passed was not very coherent having been conned into a cup by both Ginji and Ban. Emishi who was far past drunk was bounding insanely about tripping over everything and everyone slurring the worst jokes in the entire world.

Shido and Ban somehow had started into a conversation of their love life which became very detailed then they even began acting some of it out. It was degenerating into a very X-rate scene at which point Makubex stiffened up from drink and embarrassment and then passed out falling against Ginji. Ginji whose mouth had yet to stop flapping was surprised for a moment then pulled Makubex's chair a bit closer propping him up then began to chatter away to him. Ban leaned over for a moment distracted by the sudden movements and whispered something lewdly suggestive into Ginji's ear causing the blonde's drunken flush to darken. Kazuki becoming highly annoyed at the fact that no one was apparently listening to him anymore aside from Juubei and Toshiki, began to follow in the steps of Ban and Shido with his own two lovers. Juubei, though drunk, remained the most capable of them all. He bid everyone else goodnight and carrying Kazuki in one arm, he grabbed Toshiki by the upper arm and proceeded to go to their own room.

Emishi left in the wrong direction promising to be right back. As he passed Juubei, the Needle Master kindly directed the Joker to his own quarters and shut the door behind him lest he get out and into trouble. Then he took the other two to the room they shared. Ban and Shido were managing to get very X-rated in their 'demonstration' and somewhere in the back of Ginji's mind he thought that he should be traumatized but instead decided that he was very sleepy and wanted to go to bed. Ginji rose unsteadily from the table causing Makubex to fall into the occupied Ban. There was an annoyed sound and Ban managed to tear himself away from activities for a brief moment.

"Tak em wissh u Genhi."

Ginji looked back to Makubex and what was left of the sensible part of him mind told him that perhaps that would be the best course of action since it would be rude to bother Ban and Shido right now. He gathered Makubex up and headed in the general direction of the way that Juubei had gone earlier. He soon came across the right hall but there were so many rooms and some doors looked like three doors in one. Which one was the right one? Passing by one door, he heard a loud snore and from another a bit further down he heard noises that perhaps would have disturbed him had he been in his right mind. He walked further down where there was no noise and he found a door that was one door instead of many. He walked in finding it to be an empty guest room. He looked down to Makubex then back at the door. There were so many doors to check to find another room and he was so very tired.

Ginji put Makubex down on the bed then climbed in beside him pulling the blanket around them both. He could always apologize in the morning when the world stopped spinning and those funny purple monkeys went away. Makubex was the understanding sort after all besides; it was way better than waking up to see Shido and Ban in weird positions. Ginji closed his tired eyes and let sleep take him.

He woke with a loud yawn feeling refreshed if but a bit groggy. His electric capabilities had burned all of the alcohol out leaving him with no hangover. It was a normal everyday morning. Moving to stretch, Ginji felt something warm and soft against his body. At once his mind registered that that could not be right. Blinking rapidly, he looked down to find Makubex snuggled up against him, his face buried in Ginji's chest. Ginji's own arms were wrapped about him holding the young man close. His face turned beet red. If Ban were here, there would be no end to the taunting. NO END! Ginji started to draw away but found that he really did not want to. He was, in fact, quite comfortable and content the way he was. He considered briefly trying to go back to sleep when he felt Makubex stir. After a moment, he found a confused face which was three shades paler than usual looking up at him. If he had not looked so sickly, Ginji was sure his heart would have melted away.

"Ginji-san?" Makubex's voice was weak and wavered.

"Yeah?" Ginji looked at him with concern.

"I don't feel very well."

-----------------------------------------

The morning was announced to all by a loud shrieking scream and the sudden pattering of bare feet running down the hall. Sakura had been unlucky enough to stumble upon Shido and Ban who were lying on the floor of the dining hall…naked as she was about to clean up and ready breakfast. Needless to say, she had not taken well to the sight. Juubei woke and with the proper application of needles, he, Kazuki, and Toshiki avoided their hangovers with time to spare for different activities. Emishi meanwhile was worshiping the porcelain goddess. To her, much homage was paid.

After getting a nice cold refreshing shower and redressed, Ban left the room he had fled to. He started down the hall when he heard Ginji's voice and decided to check up on his partner.

"Please be ok!"

Ban quietly opened the door and walked in toward the bathroom where he could hear Ginji speaking. He heard the sound of retching as he got closer. Reaching up, he tapped Ginji on the shoulder. Ginji jumped in fright then turned around to see Ban.

"Yo, Ginji."

"B-B-Ban-chan! You scared me!" Ginji grabbed at his chest.

"So, brat's got a hangover?" Ban leaned against the wall and took out a cigarette. He grinned evilly at Ginji, "So Ginji, did you spend the night with him?"

"W-w-w-w-w-what are you saying Ban-chan!" Ginji turned into a panicking tare spinning in circles, "It's not like that I swear! We just, I was tired and…"

Ban burst out laughing. He slapped Ginji on the shoulder, "Take it easy I was just kidding. You act like you have something to hide." He winced one eye as he heard the retching sound again and sighed, "Geez, Ginji move aside."

Ban walked into the bathroom where Makubex was knelt beside the toilet. He crouched down beside him and put a hand to his forehead, "You look like shit, kid. Come on."

Ban took hold of Makubex's shoulders, brought him to his feet, and put him back into bed. He covered Makubex with the blanket then retrieved a wet cloth and put it over his forehead.

"Thank you." Makubex closed his heavy eyelids.

"Ah, just get better brat. Next time don't drink if you can't hold it." Ban smirked.

"Ha, ha. I'll remember to remind you that you said that next time you con me into it." Makubex put on a small smile.

"Yeah, you do that." Ban turned and walked toward the door, "Come on Ginji, kid needs to rest."

"Ok Ban-chan." Ginji jogged out after him. He looked back over his shoulder as he got to the door, "Get better ok, Makubex."

"K."

Ginji smiled as he shut the door with a soft click. He turned about to find Ban hunched over staring eye level with him. He blinked confusedly and a slight blush took his face, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing. Just trying to see if you are keeping any secrets." Ban chuckled then straightened up and walked down the hall, "Let's go Ginji, breakfast awaits."

End Chapter Two


	3. Chapter 3: A Normal Job

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the **actual cataclysm** then it will return to the **actual events before** the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the **Aftermath** which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of the GB: Get Back the Future arc so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!

Yes, this is Ban/Shido (and vice versa), Kazuki/Juubei/Toshiki (in various combinations of), Masaki/Teshimine, a fluffy Ginji/Makubex, Akabane/Kagami and a kinda stalkery one sided Akabane/Ginji (everyone loves Ginji hehheheheh) Don't flame me for it, this story is written for someone who asked for it.

I know that I am taking some liberties with the effects of the bomb I tried to research it but didn't get much so here is my best shot.

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 3: A Normal Job

Part One: **Mugenjou Sept. 17 12:40 p.m.**

Makubex was thrown off his feet by the sheer sound shock of the bomb exploding. Masaki caught the young man by the shoulders keeping him from falling roughly to the ground. The walls of Mugenjou itself deflected the surge of heat that followed the initial explosion though it tried to stream in through the door that was left open. Juubei, Toshiki, Teshimine, and Kanou were holding up large slabs of the toughest metal that Mugenjou could manufacture to redirect the offending radiant heat into the air. The initial force lacked the strength to come back down upon them as the second wave promised too, the blast wave. After a few seconds, the wave ceased its intensity. Makubex fidgeted. They could not hold off the blast wave nor could they leave the doors open to let it in. Without the walls of Mugenjou to take the brunt of the damage, their fortifications would be useless. If they stayed, they might die from the pressure.

"Close the doors! Everyone get below, hurry!"

It was too late to wait anymore. He had to think of the people he was protecting. Juubei and the others began to push on the heavy doors to shut them when a large van suddenly flew into the small space between the doors. There was a clang as the doors shut and locked. Seconds. Seconds! Makubex heard the car empty and Ban shouting. They all raced to the edge of a hole that had been made. It led straight down to the Core. Few hesitated before jumping as the angry roar of the blast wave came across the city. They were falling, someone screamed. Makubex pulled out a switch and pressed the button. On every floor that they passed, a large slab of metal covered the hole. Soon the ground came into view. The people below screamed and moved out of the way.

"Who's stupid idea was this!" Ban's voice yelled.

Their rapid descent was stopped as Kanou using the limits of his power created an opposite force of air cushioning their fall just enough to slow them down. They landed roughly but no one was hurt badly. Makubex who at the last minute had closed his eyes in instinctual fear though his mind had already told him the outcome opened them to realize that the fall had not hurt at all. Feeling arms around him, Makubex looked up to see that Ginji was holding on to him. In fact, they were currently attached to a wall. He smiled; it was just like the last time he had fallen so far. Ginji released his electricity and they fell to the floor lightly. Only then did Ginji let go of him.

"Smooth move, Ginji. Save the computer brat but not the rest of us." Ban shot snidely.

"Sorry, Ban-chan. I was so scared I forgot everything else."

"Sorry nothing, you had better at least remember **me** next time!" Ban grabbed Ginji's neck and began to rub his knuckles across his hair painfully.

"Baaan-chaaaaaaaaaan!"

Ban let him go after a few moments of torture. He turned a look to Makubex, "A little warning would have been nice."

"I'm sorry, Ban-kun. I had other things on my mind and besides, an explanation would have taken ten seconds more than we had."

"Ch. Whatever."

Part Two: **Shinjuku Sept. 13 - 14**

In the end, Ban had to drag a wailing tare Ginji away from Mugenjou after breakfast. They returned to the Honky Tonk the next day and it became business as usual or it would have been if they had any business. Ban and Ginji were sitting at the bar waiting for a job to land in their laps. Ginji was moping because Ban had made him leave so early the day before. He had wanted to stay longer. After all, it had almost been a week since they visited last. In Ginji's mind, a week was seven days too long to not visit. Ban was beginning to wonder if Ginji had some other stakes in going to visit than just being with his old friends. Pondering that however was far from his mind at this moment as he was glaring at his cell phone almost as if he could will it to ring. Morning turned into late after noon and Ginji's stomach rumbled angrily demanding sustenance. Ban sighed and reached for cigarette only to realize that his pack was empty.

"Ch." Ban crushed it in his hand.

Just then, the entrance bells jangled as the door to the Honky Tonk was opened. Ban and Ginji turned their heads as they heard the voice that they had been waiting on.

"Hello, boys."

"Hevn, it's about time." Ban grumbled.

"Hevn-chan!"

Hevn took a chair between the both of them and smiled, "I have a job for you."

"Wait just a minute there; we don't just take any job." Ban crossed his arms just as his stomach made its complaint known. He was irritated and trying to put up a prideful front.

"Don't worry, this one pays up front." Hevn put an envelope down in front of Ban, "This is your cut. If you take the job."

Ban glanced down at the envelope. It was thick. He took it casually and weighed it in his hand before opening the flap and looking in. Ban promptly fell out of his chair.

"Ban-chan?" Ginji got up and walked over to Ban worriedly.

Ban got to his feet and slammed the envelope down in front of Hevn, "What the hell kind of job is this?" The amount of payment was more than enough to pay Paul back ten times over and still come out good.

"Well…it's a retrieval." Hevn brushed her hair back from her bare shoulders, "A radio-active substance was stolen from AluTek labs yesterday. They think that the man stole it when he got fired." She lay a folder down before Ban. A mans picture was paper clipped to it, "He's always been a bit mentally unstable they said so he would be grudging enough to commit the theft."

"What exactly _is_ this substance?" Ban opened the folder and took a look at the file inside.

"They didn't specify. But it is in a steel cooler box. They put a picture of the substance and the box in the file. Considering how many 'substances' there are, you can take your pick as to which one you think it is but I've never seen this one before myself. It should be harmless as long as it remains inside of the box. Only a fool would deal with radio-active material with out any protection anyway."

"Hmm." Ban closed the folder and took hold of the envelope, "Shouldn't be too hard as long as we keep it in the box, right? We'll take it."

-----------------------------------------

Ginji sat back in the chair in which he was currently residing, stuffed. He let out a happy sigh. Twice in three days he had been fed to capacity. He was a happy man. Ginji looked over to Ban who was finishing up his own meal.

"Ne, Ban-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Are we going to pay Paul-san back with some of the money?"

"Ah, we'll get to that later it's not like he's in a hurry."

A thought of an angry Paul kicking them out of the Honky Tonk again crossed Ginji's mind and he grimaced.

"Besides, we have to do the job first but we couldn't go hungry could we. I'm actually quite interested in this. Should be a piece of cake but they gave a lot of money for it." Ban leaned back in his chair, "I'm going to send the picture of that stuff to your friend the computer brat. He'll be able to tell me what it is. They are going through a lot of trouble for this and I want to know why."

"Ban-chan, what do you think is going on?" Ginji sat up.

"Couldn't tell you but I smell a rat and Shido's not around."

-----------------------------------------

Ban had conned Paul into emailing the picture to Makubex and was currently driving around with Ginji in search of the man who had supposedly stolen the substance. They had asked around and had found some people saying that they had seen a homeless man of that description living around this area. Ban was about to call it a morning and go and get some breakfast when he saw a man resembling the picture dart into an alley.

"There he is Ginji!"

The Lady Bug came to a sudden and terrible halt and the Get backers jumped out. They ran toward the way that the man had disappeared to. Ban heard his cell phone ring. Cursing loudly, he grabbed it from his pocket. CmpBrt it read.

"Ginji!" Ban tossed the phone to him, "Answer it."

Ginji pressed the talk button, "Heeello, this is Giiinjii." His voice was cheery.

"Ginji-san? Where's Ban-kun?"

"Maku-chaaaan!" Ginji sang cheerfully into the phone, "Ban-chan and I are chasing someone right now so he can't answer the phone."

"Ginji-san, that picture Ban-kun sent me is a fake. The components shown look like they are supposed to be crystals of strontium and cesium but they can't possibly be. The box in the picture is open to the air in the lab and there is no protection around it. Strontium oxidizes very rapidly in the air. It darkens and starts to develop a film of white oxide literally within seconds of being exposed. In the picture the strontium is bright silver. Even if they snapped a picture as soon as it was opened there should still be some tarnishing. Cesium is so highly reactive that it ignites spontaneously in air. There is no way that it could possibly be laying there like that. I think someone very good grafted this picture together."

"…" Ginji who was still running had a blank expression on his face, "…um,…so it's not a real picture?"

"No, Ginji-san. It is a fake picture." There was a pause, "Would you tell Ban-kun to call me back?"

"Sure." Ginji smiled to the phone.

There was a light laugh, "Bye Ginji-san."

"Bye Maku-chan!"

Ginji pressed the End button and picked up the pace to catch Ban, "Ban-chan!" He tossed the phone back. He was not allowed to keep it at all in fear of it being fried.

"What did he say?" Ban asked not taking his eyes off of the fleeing figure that had seen them chasing him.

"He wants you to call him back…I got confused." Ginji looked a little embarrassed, "But the picture is not a real one. I got that much."

"Good. That's all I needed to know. You're a good filter you know that Ginji."

"I am?"

Ban stopped running immediately. Ginji did as well.

"Ban-chan, he's getting away!"

"He's not the one who stole the materials." Ban took out a cigarette, "He's a decoy to keep us from finding the real culprit."

"What do you mean?" Ginji looked confused.

"Someone at the lab must have stolen it and paid this guy to make us run around on a wild goose chase while they got away with the real thing. Then they pay us to go looking for him so that the company doesn't hire the real police who might dig him out as the real thief." Ban blew out a breath of smoke, "A real smart man this is."

"Then why did they pay so much if we weren't getting anything back for real?" Ginji blinked.

"To keep us from wondering about the materials." Ban frowned, "Money makes people go blind or so they say."

"So what do we do now, Ban-chan?"

"I say we take our inquiry to AluTek and get back the materials. We do have a 100 success rate to uphold." Ban tossed his cigarette to the ground and rubbed it out with his foot, "I wonder how much trouble this is going to be."

End Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4: Coalesce of Disaster

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the **actual cataclysm** then it will return to the **actual events before** the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the **Aftermath** which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of the GB: Get Back the Future arc so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!

Squeezing out this chapter was so painful….I hope it's not as crappy as it sounds to me but it's the final piece to the beginning of the story so please bear with me. I promise that it will be much more fun and then when the seven sins show up it's even more fun for everyone.

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 4: Coalesce of Disaster

Part One: **Shinjuku Sept. 17 12:30 p.m.**

Himiko looked down at her watch. Twelve-thirty it read. It was too late to do anything now. They had to go. She glanced briefly down the hall. So many doors still unchecked. How could they have possibly found it in time and even with Makubex's help would they have even been able to diffuse it before it detonated. She turned back to the others who were still searching.

"We have to go now! Hurry!"

Ban looked at her with an incredulous look as soon as he exited the room he had searched, "How much time do we have?"

"Five minuets, Ban."

"Five minuets!" Ginji turned tare with fear, "We can't even make it to shelter in that much time!"

"Don't sweat it. Mr. No Brakes is waiting outside. So everyone get your asses in gear, I have a job appointment to keep." Himiko darted back to the stairs.

Everyone raced back out of the building and just as Himiko said, Mr. No Brakes was waiting outside with a van. Under Himiko's direction, they all piled in and Mr. No Brakes stepped on the gas causing everyone not seated to go slamming into the cushioned chairs. It was not much later when there was a loud explosion and the vibrations rocked the van almost so much that it nearly tipped over but Mr. No Brakes kept it going. The vehicle became unbearably hot as the heat wave raked over it with unfathomed vengeance. For a brief moment, even the metal on the outside melted a little from the sheer temperature. Luckily it passed rather quickly but like an ominous presence, they could feel the blast wave chasing them from behind. Ginji fidgeted.

"Himiko-chan, what job appointment are you keeping?"

Himiko turned with a grin, "The transportation of two blockheaded Get backers, one Beast Master, and one Fuuchouin Thread Master to Mugenjou at or before twelve-forty p.m. if the bomb was not disarmed as requested by one Makubex."

"He thinks of everything." Kazuki smiled.

"Oi, they're closing the doors on us!" Ban yelled as they neared Mugenjou and the main doors were closing.

"Don't worry. I've done this many times before." Mr. No Brakes said and drove toward the doors.

Part Two: **Shinjuku Sept. 15-17**

The 15th had been spent rooting around for information on the missing substances and possible culprits. Ban had conned Shido into searching for the man that they had been hired to apprehend at first to see if he knew anything and with him went Kazuki who had been asked to help by Ginji. Today, Ban was pacing outside of AluTek's main building trying to devise a way to get in. They had attempted to sneak inside four times already but they had been kicked out each time. No matter what disguise they used, it never seemed to work. Ban was growing more irritable by the second. Then, his cell rang.

"Hello, Get Backers." Ban almost snapped.

"Nice greeting Ban." It was Shido's voice.

"Oh, it's you. Got any information yet."

"Plenty." There was a wailing sound in the background and a beg for mercy, "Kazuki's very good at getting information. We caught that many you asked for and asked him a few questions. Turns out you were right about the set up. In fact you were meant to take the fall when the actual bomb did explode. Some guy named Lucifer set this all up with AluTek. Seems like the AluTek Company is not what it seems to be and they plan to blow the city sky high. After we're done here, Kazuki and I will meet up with you."

"Good. Thanks for the info, Monkey Trainer." Ban hung up, "Alright Ginji, this is going to get difficult."

"But…Ban-chan…I'm tired and hungry." Ginji whined.

"Stop whining, we have work to do."

-----------------------------------------

It was later that day that a bomb threat was released to the news and the panic began. People herded for the outskirts of the city only to find all their hopes dashed. Some invisible force surrounded the city and despite all efforts no one could leave and no one could come in. All attempts at air travel escape were also thwarted by the barrier. Someone powerful had planned all of this but for what end? The panic soon turned into an apocalypse epidemic with people having lost all reason went ballistic.

Ban and the rest were trying to work their way into the sealed AluTek labs when suddenly the front steel door fell into pieces and Akabane walked out. He smiled as soon as he saw the others.

"Pleasant day is it not?"

Ban frowned, "What are you doing?"

"Same thing as you I suppose only much more efficient." Akabane grinned at Ginji, "So I guess that makes us partners, ne, Ginji-kun?"

Ginji shrank down, "I-I guess so, Akabane-san…"

"Care to explain?" Shido glared. He looked up as Himiko walked out of the building.

"We were hired by someone else to pry into this mess because someone wouldn't call him back." Himiko looked at Ban.

"What's that stupid brat doing meddling where it doesn't concern him." Ban looked annoyed.

"It's a bomb, genius. He was wondering why you emailed him a picture of radio active substances and after you failed to explain yourselves, he sent us or rather me to do some digging as to what the hell you were doing with that picture. After things got interesting, Akabane decided to help out." Himiko shrugged, "Besides, we've already gotten way ahead of you information wise."

"What are you saying?" Shido asked with a near angry tone.

"I am saying that this situation is far over all of our heads. We've had to transport Paul, Natsume, Hevn, Madoka, and her little dog to Mugenjou for safety. _Safety_ in _Mugenjou_ do you understand the irony here?" Himiko waved her hand in the air as if to emphasize how ridiculous that statement was.

"Madoka?" Shido looked concerned.

"It's alright. Hevn is watching after her." Himiko started to walk off, "Now if you will excuse us, we have a bomb to find."

"Go on, we'll get our own answers." Ban said snidely.

"Oh? But that will be a bit difficult Mido-kun." Akabane smiled pleasantly, "There is no one left to ask."

"You killed them all?" Kazuki looked disgusted.

"They were being rather evasive with their information so I just 'loosened' them up some." Akabane looked pleased.

"Then we're coming with you." Shido said crossing his arms.

"You can do whatever you want, but the bomb is set to go off at twelve-forty p.m. tomorrow." Himiko looked serious, "It's enough to kill everyone in the city twice over. We work together or not at all, because this is deadly serious."

"Together then, it's not like you can figure stuff like this out by yourself." Ban said as he stepped forward.

Following Himiko's lead that she had coerced out of a rather frightened AluTek employee, they found a hidden district of labs and warehouses that AluTek was keeping under wraps. There were over forty buildings of varying height waiting to be searched. It was well into dark before they started the search.

-----------------------------------------

Inside Mugenjou in the area of the Beltline, Lucifer sits on a throne like chair and stares off into the night sky. His plan is working accordingly. This would be fun and the outcome would be most interesting. He chuckled to himself. All the pawns were in place all he had to do was direct them ever so slightly into place and begin the game. The pieces were already decided upon and now only the beginning waited. Hearing a noise to his left, Lucifer looked over to see one of his followers standing there.

"What is it?"

"I've come to tell you that the Get Backers are already searching for the bomb."

"Let them." Lucifer grinned and waved his hands out before him in a grand gesture, "Let them try. Poor little pawns struggling to move on their own. They'll never find it, it's not even there." He laughed, "I can not wait for the game to begin. It promises to be exciting don't you agree, Beezulbub?"

"Yes, Master. Fun indeed."

-----------------------------------------

Sakura was sitting in front of the computers typing different commands into the keyboard when she heard the door behind her open. She looked back to see Emishi enter. She gave him a nod to acknowledge his presence then returned to her task. A moment later, Emishi plopped down on the floor nearby.

"Is he sleeping well?" Emishi asked into the silence.

"No, he's already tried to come back in here at least five times already. I sent Juubei to keep him company. I suppose it's better that he stay up wandering about than to be working all night again." Sakura hit the enter key then turned to face Emishi with a polite bow.

"I guess." Emishi sighed then stretched. A smile took his face, "I'm surprised that you haven't tried giving him a warm glass of milk and reading him a bed time story."

"Emishi, that's not nice." Sakura frowned.

"I was just kidding. Geez, I see where Juubei gets his sense of humor from." Emishi dodged something that was thrown his way, "It's just you're so motherly. It's only ten and here you are telling him to be a good boy and go to bed. He's just worried about the others you know. It's going to bother him to feel useless."

"I know but if he doesn't rest he's going to break down on us and that would be worse." Sakura shook her head, "I have a bad feeling about tomorrow. Something awful is going to happen."

"Yeah, an explosion. The odds are against them finding it in time." Emishi leaned back against a vertical mainframe.

"No, not that." Sakura put a hand over her heart, "Something else. I don't know how to explain it. I had a dream last night and everyone was fighting each other. I just can't get it out of my head."

"It'll be fine. If all of us stand together then nothing will stop us. We've all been through enough to know that." Emishi offered a small smile, "Don't let it bother you so much. We don't want you to break down. If you do, then who will tell Makubex when to go to bed?"

Sakura laughed, "Not you apparently."

"Nah, its way more fun to stay up and watch comedy shows." Emishi winked.

End Chapter 4

The next chapter will pick up after the bomb explosion and the events of the catastrophe. So begins the Aftermath. Sorry for the crappy chapter but it will get better, I promise. ;


	5. Chapter 5: Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the **actual cataclysm** then it will return to the **actual events before** the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the **Aftermath** which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of the GB: Get Back the Future arc so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 5: Aftermath

Most of the massive crowd of people was silent for nearly half an hour. Some looked fearful while others carried expressions of despair and disbelief. Kazuki let his gaze travel the crowd, something was wrong. He could feel a building pressure of enmity but he could not pinpoint its source. Glancing to his side, Kazuki saw Juubei step closer to Makubex who was running a feed on the surviving sensors connected to the surface garnering information and assessing the damage above. He too must have felt it. It was well into two hours after the initial explosion when everyone was becoming restless. The shock had worn off and discomfort had set in. Cramped, bored, and frightened, the mixture was threatening to become a bomb itself and erupt into yet another panic.

"Surely it's over right?"

"I'm hungry and I have to go to the restroom."

"They're going to trap us down here."

"Mommy, can we go home now?"

"Where's Uncle Ted? Did he make it here?"

"If that baby cries one more time…"

"I can't take it anymore! I feel like I'm going to suffocate!"

The voices were speaking low now, almost frantic. That is when the stampede for the doors began. Someone finally lost their nerve and began to rush for the doors. Seeing him go, others began to move as well and soon the entire Outsider group was hasting for the exit. The residents of Lower Town stood by quietly waiting for the command of their king before they dared make a move.

"Stop! Don't open those doors!" Makubex tried to yell over the crowd but he was soon drowned out, "Wait! There's—"

Some of the Lower Town inhabitants attempted to stop the throng of panicked people but the stampede was too great. Makubex gasped as he found himself suddenly picked up into the air. It took him a moment to realize that he had been set upon Teshimine's shoulders.

"Hold on." Teshimine walked up to a crate and stepped upon it to make Makubex in full view of everyone.

"All of you shut up and calm down!" Masaki's voice boomed angrily across the room. A flash of bright light startled everyone into a frozen fear. Masaki glared at them, "No one moves unless you are given permission. Now listen up!" Satisfied at all of the gaping shocked faces that were staring at him, Masaki nodded with a smile to Makubex, "They're all yours."

Makubex returned the smile with a slightly scrunched look that seemed to convey the fact that he thought Masaki had over done it just a bit. He turned his attention to the crowd, "No one is to leave the sheltered areas at this time. The bomb released not only radiation but some unidentifiable biological virus. The levels of contamination outside are far too high at this moment to allow for safe travel. You need to stay calm. There are even lower levels to Mugenjou and we will accommodate you all until it is safe for you to return to the outside."

A gray object caught Makubex's eye a second before it struck him in the side of the face knocking him from Teshimine's shoulders. It was a rather large rock. Incensed, the Lower Town residents began to search for the culprit. Fights soon began to breakout and then a loud voice roared across the room.

"Mido! My arm throbs for your blood!"

"What the hell is Fudou doing here?" Ban scanned the crowd for the insane lunatic.

Toshiki's eyes darted over the mess, "How did the Beltliners get in this mess?"

The fight pushed its way into them then the group was overcome by the crowd as people washed into them both fighting and running. Some overcome with terror tried to open the doors. One was successful and a loud screaming began as the contamination entered. People were crushed, killed, and battered about. The air was soon filled with the noises of death and battle. Ginji tried not to fight but found that several times that he had no choice as a random Beltliner recognized him. He soon joined the group that was filtering madly into the depths below the Core. He could not see the others anywhere and he was becoming scared. Ginji traveled lost for sometime when he came across Shido and Ban who where almost unscathed. Ginji turned tare and flew at them with big tare tears in his eyes.

"Ban-chan! Shido-chan!" Ginji attached himself to Ban, "I was so scared!"

"Looks like you made it out just fine." Ban had a slight smile on his face. He patted the tare on the head.

Ginji reverted back to normal, "Where are the others?" Ban watched Ginji's expression change from mirth to nervousness.

"Why worry about them? They can take care of themselves." Ban shrugged.

"But…"

"Ginji-san, Mido-san, and Shido-san too? I'm glad to see that you are alright."

Ginji turned to see Kazuki and his two bodyguards walk up, "Kazu-chan!" He threw himself as a flying tare to give Kazuki a Hug of Doom™.

"I'm glad to see you to Ginji-san." Kazuki smiled back.

"So what's the plan now?" Toshiki asked.

"Should find Emishi." Juubei stated as if it had been quite so obvious.

"What about Hevn-chan and the others?" Ginji asked.

"Don't worry too much about that Ginji-san. Toshiki and Juubei told me that they are sealed safely in the Core Office. They'll be fine." Kazuki gave Ginji a reassuring look.

"Ok, let's go find Emishi!" Ginji hopped down the corridor. The other followed after him. A few feet down Ginji began to call out, "Emishi? Eeeeeeemishiii?"

Ban hit Genji on the back of the head, "Pipe down you moron. Do you want everyone to know where we're at?"

"That hurt Ban-chan…." Ginji rubbed his head.

Shido stepped forward, "There's a heavy blood scent this way. I think it's Emishi's."

Following Shido, they walked into the depths of the complex and soon the blood spattered trail came into view. It took them to a corridor with a single door at the end. Shido stopped, "This is the source."

As Shido began to open the door, something flew out at him from it. Shido barely managed to catch it. It was a whip.

"Emishi. Shido gripped the whip tightly to prevent it from being pulled back in.

"Shido-han?"

"It's me."

Ginji gasped as Emishi opened the door the rest of the way. The Joker was covered in blood, "What happened?" His eyes fell past Emishi to see that behind him sitting on the floor was a similarly blood covered Makubex pecking away at a keyboard with one hand. The other lay in his lap unmoving, "Maku-chan!"

Shido entered after Ginji. He took a long look at the gashes that covered his friends body, "Who did this?"

"Well, you see…" Emishi put a hand behind his head, "Fudou could find Ban so he ran into us instead. You know, I think he really likes you Mido-han with all his 'Bring me Mido', 'My throbbing revenge'." Emishi did his best to imitate Fudou.

"Sick freak." Ban muttered to himself.

Emishi ushered everyone inside, "Come on in here, before he finds us."

"So what's going on now?" Toshiki asked.

"It's not good at all. Contamination is leaking into the shelter because someone opened one of the doors, there are dead everywhere, the Beltliners are slaughtering everyone and I've been locked out of the main computer system for ten minuets now." Makubex's attention never left from the virtual display of a computer monitor that hovered before him. He put the hand to his forehead, "I guess I really screwed up on this one."

"Bah, shit happens." Ban propped himself against a nearby wall and took out a cigarette.

"You did your best Maku-chan." Ginji patted Makubex on the head, "What happened to your arm?"

"It's ok."

"Far as I can tell, he's broken it." Emishi nodded gratefully to Juubei who had just finished binding up all of his wounds with some gauze that he had found in one of the storage crates, "Thanks man. For a moment I really was a bloody Joker."

"Did you know that every time you open your mouth something stupid comes out?" Ban asked irritably.

Juubei turned to Makubex, "Let me see it."

"It's fine now. It doesn't hurt anymore." Makubex blinked startled as he found himself turned about by Ginji.

"Let Juubei fix it." Ginji's face was serious as he stared. Makubex was lying; Ginji could see the pain on his face clearly.

"O-ok." Makubex looked a bit frightened by Ginji's sternness. It was reminiscent of the Raitei.

"It will only be a moment." Juubei carefully checked all of Makubex's various injuries leaving the arm for last. Juubei frowned at it, "Emishi's right. The ulna is broken and the scaphoid is fractured as well. You'll need to not move it as much as you can. A fracture like this is very hard to heal. I'll have to move the ulna back into place then bind the whole thing. It will hurt but if we don't do this now you may lose the use of your hand all together."

Makubex looked up at Ginji as he felt a hand placed comfortingly upon his shoulder. Ginji had a soft smile upon his face, "Don't worry. I know Juubei will do his best to make it not hurt so much. Besides, I'm right here."

Makubex smiled back at him and in his moment of distraction, Juubei pushed the broken ends of bone back into alignment. Makubex grit his teeth as Juubei wound the arm and hand firmly with the gauze until he had made a thin pseudo cast. Juubei pressed a few of his acupuncture needles into Makubex's arm then after a few moments removed them.

"That should lessen the pain for a while. Try not to move it much." Juubei bowed politely then moved on to make sure that everyone else was fine.

"See, that wasn't so bad." Ginji grinned then pulled Makubex into a hug and ruffled his hair.

Ban finished his cigarette and flicked it into a nearby corner. He grinned to himself as he watched Ginji fuss over Makubex. He thought that it was rather amusing how Ginji was so attached to the computer brat. He wondered briefly if Ginji would ever act on his feelings one day. It seemed above the blonde's intelligence level sometimes to have such feelings but Ban knew that Ginji was a lot brighter than he appeared on the outside. Let the brat calculate that. Ban chuckled to himself which warranted him an inquiring look from Shido who then followed his gaze and took to his own musing.

"Well, well. I do hope that I am not interrupting anything important."

Everyone turned to see that the door was open and Akabane stepped in. He walked into the room of frowns and shocked faces with an air of amusement.

"What do you want here, Dr. Jakal?" Kazuki glared sternly.

"I'm just on a job." Akabane stepped into the center of the room.

"And that would be?" Ban stepped forward menacingly.

"Why I am only here to deliver a certain package but as it seems that you all were here, I thought I would stop by to see if there was anything interesting happening." Akabane smiled.

"There's nothing going on here that is any fun so if you're not helping then go find someone else to harass." Ban glared.

"So what is our course of action from here?" Shido asked.

"To me this whole thing seems a bit well planned." Toshiki put in.

"If so then does anyone have a clue about who we are dealing with?" Kazuki tried to piece everything together.

"Lucifer. I know it had to be him. There's something about that man…I just can't seem to place it." Makubex was tapping on the keyboard again.

"Any good?" Emishi asked nodding at the monitor where lines of code scrolled down it too fast for him to read not that he would have been able to understand any of it. Makubex shook his head, "Now we're defiantly screwed." Emishi sighed.

"Speak for yourself, idiot." Ban turned toward the door, "I know what I'm going to do."

"Wait! Where are you going Ban-chan?" Ginji waved his hands about frantically.

"Personally I don't care anything about this Lucifer guy but if he's toying with us then he's in for an ass-whipping Get Backers style." Ban let his glasses slide to the end of his nose.

"Sounds like a plan." Shido looked amused. He crossed his arms.

"Then I'll come too. I don't appreciate the kind of underhanded plans that involve the death of many innocent people." Kazuki touched a hand to his bells.

"I will go with you Kazuki-sama." Juubei moved to stand by Kazuki's side with his needles in hand.

"Don't forget about me. Someone has to keep Juubei out of trouble for you." Toshiki grinned.

"Sounds like fun to me." Akabane tilted his hat forward with a grin.

"Aw hell, I'm not missing this party!" Emishi snapped the end of his whip.

"I'm coming too, Ban-chan!" Ginji jumped up.

"I want to go too." Makubex winced as he received a few blank stares.

Ban pushed his glasses up, "Sorry brat, this isn't the time for group babysitting."

Makubex's face scrunched angrily, "I do not need a babysitter."

"Take a look at yourself. Really. You might have been dead if Emishi hadn't saved your ass earlier." Ban crossed his arms, "You'll only get in the way."

Ginji watched Makubex wilt visibly under Ban's accusations and he felt himself become defensive, "You're not being fair Ban-chan."

"No, I'm being sensible Ginji. Fudou's out there with who knows what else and that Lucifer guy has it in for us. He can't fight and he's already wounded. I don't see a whole lot of typing in his future." Ban frowned.

"Ginji-san, he's right." Kazuki gave Makubex an apologetic look, "I'm sorry Makubex. You're too vital to Lower Town for us to risk your life needlessly."

"I understand." Makubex sighed in defeat.

"Someone will need to stay and protect him." Juubei reminded everyone.

"Guess, it's going to be m—" Emishi started when Ginji cut him off.

"I'll stay."

"Ginji, what are you talking about?" Ban sighed in exasperation.

"It's not fair Ban-chan. If he has to stay then I will too." Ginji glared at Ban.

"That's not going to help. It's like asking a four-year old to baby-sit." Ban glared back, "Don't be stupid Ginji."

"I'm useless here in Mugenjou. You can't afford for me to become the Raitei." Ginji crossed his arms mimicking Ban.

"I'd say you already were with that stubborn streak." Ban muttered beneath his breath.

"Ouch, Mido-han. He's got a point." Emishi grinned.

Ban and Ginji matched glares for several moments when ban looked away, "Whatever, but both of you will stay in this room, got it?"

"Thank you Ban-chan!" Ginji turned tare and flew at Ban but got grabbed hold of by the cheek.

"I mean it Ginji." Ban frowned, "Be careful, we don't know what all is going on yet."

Ginji turned back to normal, "Don't worry Ban-chan. I'll be very careful."

"How disappointing Ginji-kun. I was looking forward to your company." Akabane suddenly appeared just behind Ginji.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Tare Ginji fled behind Makubex and peeked out from behind him, "Please don't do that Akabane-san. It's creepy." Akabane smiled, "That's creepy too!"

"All right, let's go." Kazuki slowly opened the door, peeked out, then darted out into the corridor with Juubei and Toshiki right behind him.

The others followed after quickly. Ban was last. He gave Ginji a long worried look. He shook his head at the tare's Ultra Special Good Luck Farewell Dance™. He turned and left. Ginji flopped down on the floor with a loud sigh.

"Phew. Ah, we won't have to wait long. Ban'll kick all those bad guy's butts and be back here before supper time."

"I'm sorry Ginji-san…for being so weak." Makubex frowned sadly.

"Wha?" Ginji took Makubex's good arm and pulled him over to him, "That's not true."

"Yes it is. I always have to be 'babysat'." Makubex looked listlessly at the floor, "I'm useless."

"Stop saying things like that!" Ginji's voice was stern once again, "You just have different skills than the rest of us. Just because you aren't in the front lines makes you no less important than Ban-chan or me. Battles aren't always about strength Maku-chan."

"I know but—" Makubex started only to be interrupted by Ginji.

"Cheer up and remember that there are a lot of people who depend on you for your 'protection'." Ginji smiled brightly, "So where's your smile?"

Makubex shook his head and smiled.

End Chapter Five

Please review me. If it's boring the stuffing out of you just let me know and I will try to liven things up. I know it was terribly dry to start with but it's a hard idea for me to keep up with. To everyone who is still reading this drabble thank you so very much.


	6. Chapter 6: Fall from Grace

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the **actual cataclysm** then it will return to the **actual events before** the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the **Aftermath** which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of the GB: Get Back the Future arc so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!

Just as a note, a scaphoid fracture is a fracture in the carpels and metacarpels (little bones between your fingers and your arm bones-- "hand" bones) in the wrist on the radius (thumb) side.

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 6: Fall from Grace

"I think it would be best if we split up." Kazuki glanced down the various halls, "We can cover more ground that way."

"I think I shall go this way." Akabane disappeared down one hall.

Juubei and Toshiki followed Kazuki as he went another way. Shido and Ban took the same hall. Emishi stood scratching his head for a moment.

"I'm not following the scary guy!" Then he too took a different hall.

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Shido and Ban walked on for some time down the hall that they had chosen. After a while, Ban stopped and took out a cigarette. He leaned against the wall and began to smoke it.

"So you sensed it too?" Shido asked.

"Yeah." Ban tossed the half-smoked cancer stick to the ground, "It's like we are running in an endless loop for someone's amusement." Ban turned to the darkness behind him and spoke louder, "If you want to come play then do it. All this skulking around is annoying me."

There was a loud rasping laugh and from the hall behind them came a man dressed head to foot in cloth. Not a glimpse of his flesh could be seen. The man shuffled forward. There was obviously something very wrong with him. Ban's eyes narrowed in anticipation of fighting the powerful presence that he could feel emanating from the man.

"So soon….so soon….you wish to fight…." The voice was harsh, raspy and wet sounding.

"There's something not human about him." Shido warned before lowering into an attack stance.

Ban jumped to the side as a blast of energy burst out from the man with no warning and blazed across the hall.

"You alright back there Monkey-Trainer?" Ban called over his shoulder.

"I can take of myself Snake Bastard just watch your own neck." Shido shouted back. He called forth his power, "Beast Semblance-Wolf Form!"

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Kazuki stopped as soon as the hall opened up into a large open area. It looked like it should be a mini plaza. He turned his head to the side briefly and exchanged a look with Toshiki. They were being followed. In fact, Kazuki was sure that the stalker had been following them ever since they left the room. He moved into the room.

"Kazuki-sama, look out!"

Kazuki found himself shoved out of the way of an arrow made of sheer ki. Juubei had his needles out and was turned angrily to the darkness of the hall, "Show yourself and fight with honor you shameless cur!"

"If you desire." A form appeared from out of the shadows. The person was cloaked and none of their flesh showed even slightly.

"Who are you?" Demanded Toshiki, "Are you one of the Beltliners?"

"Ah, my Master does reside there but as for myself…I come from much farther below." The voice laughed, "I do hope that you will be fun I did have other plans for today."

"What do you mean, 'much farther below'?" Kazuki asked. His hand defensively upon his bells waiting for the attack.

"You will understand, but it is not the right time as of yet." The voice came laughing again, "Come let us play. The day is almost done."

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Emishi wandered nervously down the path he chose. He could feel the presence behind him almost as if his shadow had come to life. As he turned the corner, he bumped roughly into someone.

"Ah!" Emishi let the yipe escape his mouth.

"Oh, it's just you Emishi." The tonfa was lowered from Emishi's face. Teshimine grinned at him, "Are you lost?"

"Um,…no." Emishi felt relieved that he was no longer alone. He put a hand behind his head, "Actually, everyone split up to look for that Lucifer guy and anyone else who might be behind this trouble."

"Who's watching Makubex?" Masaki stepped forward.

"Ginji-han. They're hiding in the sealed room at the end of R Hall." Emishi saw Masaki look to the right suddenly.

"Are you being followed?" Teshimine asked as he noticed Masaki's movement.

"Yes."

"Come out here you coward!" Masaki bellowed into the darkness.

There were a few moments of silence then the stalking presence faded. Emishi sighed, "I don't know what that was but it was creeping me out big time."

"Stay with us Emishi. There is something bad happening. Masaki and I have come across some…for lack of better word 'monsters'. I think it has something to do with the radiation and that strange biological contamination that Makubex mentioned but we have to find him and see if he can tell us what it was." Teshimine put a hand on Emishi's shoulder, "Things are going to get rough for a little while."

"That's fine." Emishi grinned, "I was beginning to get a little bored with the everyday routine."

"Come on then. Let's get moving." Masaki turned and walked back the way Emishi had come.

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Fudou was angry. He had seen Ban at the beginning of the fight but there were so many people between him and his prey. He had thrown people here and there tearing into them to get to his target but when all was said and done, Mido had escaped him. He clenched his fist. How it ached for Mido's blood to be spilt across the floor! He would find him no matter where he went. Ban would never escape him forever. He stopped annoyed as he heard a sound from behind him.

"Don't get in my way!" Fudou spun around to face this intruder in his hunt.

"Will you be any fun I wonder?" A cloaked figure moved out into the light, "I hope so."

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Kaoru walked down the halls quickly. She had to find someone in authority. She had to warn them. From out of the hall before her, a figure came running. Without waiting to see if it was a friend or foe, she lashed out with her fire only to have it blocked by a powerful wind.

"Watch it Kaoru!"

She looked up. It was Kanou's voice, "What the hell are you doing running around you stupid brat! Where's Masaki?"

"I don't know." Kanou looked embarrassed, "I got lost in the battle."

"Battle? Already?" Kaoru looked thoughtful for a moment, "So it's already started."

"What's started?" Kanou looked confused.

"I don't have time to explain it to you idiot. If you don't know where Masaki is then can you tell me where that brat of a ruler is or maybe Raitei?" Kaoru looked annoyed.

"No idea but I can take you back to the Core Office. If they are going to regroup, that's where everyone will meet." Kanou offered.

"Then hurry it up. This thing will get out of hand very fast." Kaoru glared at nothing in particular.

"This way then." Kanou started to run again in the direction that he had been heading. He heard Kaoru laugh just behind him, "What's so funny?"

"I can't believe that you of all people got separated from your precious Masaki." Kaoru laughed at him.

"Shut up!"

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There was a sound that came across as a mixture of a laugh and a sob interrupted by words every so often.

"Stop it! Stop!" More of the strange sound, "Quit!"

"You're not putting up too much of a fight about it." Laughter.

Akabane who had made a full circle of his chosen area without any trouble raised his eyebrow at the noise that was emanating from the door before him. He opened it only to chuckle at the sight that greeted his vision.

"Well now Ginji-kun. That's a position that I never thought that I would see you in."

Ginji looked up suddenly from his tickle victim to see Akabane standing in the doorway. His cheeks warmed as he suddenly realized what Akabane had meant. It must have looked really bad. He was hovering over Makubex who he had pinned to the floor for a full tickle assault. Their clothes were rumpled, hair disheveled and their legs were tangled up from Makubex flailing about trying to escape. The young man's face was wet from tear shed from laughing so long that his sides had started to hurt.

Akabane sat down in a chair and crossed his legs in a lazy manner, "Don't stop on my account. Do continue." He grinned amusedly.

"Aaaaaaa—Akabane, it's not how it looks!" Ginji detangled himself and sat up then helped Makubex up.

"How about how it sounded? Hm, Ginji-kun?" Akabane leaned forward with his amused grin.

"Definitely not how it sounded!" Ginji waved his arms frantically about. Makubex's own face was red in embarrassment from such accusations, "We were just playing."

"That's what they all call it." Akabane tilted his hat down.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about right Akabane-san? Right?" Ginji had turned into a frantic tare and was flailing about in front of Akabane.

Akabane just kept grinning and did not answer the question.

"He knows Ginji-san. He's just picking on you." Makubex finally spoke up having straightened himself out and collected what was left of his dignity.

"If I had been the enemy Ginji-kun. I can assure you that this hiding spot would not have been hard to find." Akabane looked down at the running tare.

Tare Ginji turned white, fell over, and then he turned back to normal, "I guess I forgot. It was getting so boring waiting for Ban and everyone else to get back."

"Do try to remember next time, Ginji-kun." Akabane smiled.

"What are you doing back so soon Dr. Jakal?" Makubex turned a suspicious look to Akabane, "Surely you didn't get bored with killing."

"Oh, but there was just no one around." Akabane shrugged, "So I thought I would check in on Ginji-kun."

"Heh. Heh?" Ginji sweat dropped.

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"Kagami."

Kagami walked out from where he had been perched listening, "Yes?"

"I may need you to assist our dear Transporter. Getting the Raitei is an important part of my game. He is the piece most fought over after all." Lucifer was sitting in a chair leaned back in it.

"Do you have any suggestions or reservations about methods?" Kagami looked amused. This whole thing was very interesting after all. It promised to be loads of fun and for one of the few instances; he was letting himself become involved.

"None. Do what you have to, but bring me the Raitei."

"Indeed." Kagami turned and disappeared on his way.

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Akabane sat still, watching. He was waiting for the right moment to begin with his job. He did not want a whole lot of fuss since the employer had expressly mentioned that he wanted the Raitei as whole as possible but sometimes accidents happen. Makubex had gone to sleep first, curled up on the steel floor. Ginji, he found, though nearly asleep kept opening his eyes every so often just to check his position in relation to Akabane. He shifted on the floor trying to get comfortable. Could it be that Ginji could sense his ulterior motive or perhaps he was just being Ginji? Akabane found that he chose the latter as Ginji's eyes failed to open after a period of time. He had finally drifted off to sleep. Akabane rose from his chair and approached the two. Four scalpels appeared in his hand.

Makubex woke. He never slept long anyway but he had a bad feeling. He looked across the room only to see Akabane leaning down towards Ginji with the scalpels at the ready.

"Ginji-san!"

He rolled quickly out of the way, as the scalpels flew at him barely missing his flesh. A long tear appeared down his shirtsleeve. Makubex scrambled to his feet only to notice disheartened that Ginji was still asleep and he now had Akabane's full attention.

Akabane waved a finger, "Now, now, Makubex-kun. You wouldn't want to spoil my fun now would you? Best keep quiet unless you wake him up."

"GINJI-SAN!"

Makubex dodged again as scalpels flew his way this time receiving various gashes. Akabane was way out of his league and he knew it. Makubex drew in a deep breath to yell again, when Akabane appeared before him and grabbed him by the throat.

"I would receive no enjoyment from killing you dear Makubex-kun. You are quite amusing but I simply can not have you yelling like that." Akabane started to squeeze Makubex's throat.

Makubex gasped and grabbed at Akabane's arm, "G-Gin…" He felt his mind going numb.

Akabane got the briefest sense of danger before he dropped Makubex and jumped to the side. He barely missed being hit by a wave of electricity. He looked up to see Ginji on his feet sparking with electricity. Akabane was mildly disappointed that Ginji had not gone Raitei yet.

"What's the meaning of this Akabane-san?" Ginji narrowed his eyes then stepped between the lanky transporter and Makubex who was coughing from his place on the floor.

Akabane generated a few more scalpels for each hand, "Why Ginji-kun, do you really need to ask?" He smiled then threw both sets of scalpels.

Ginji jumped out of the way but hearing a loud gasp, looked back to see Makubex recoiling from the scalpels that were embedded in the ground before him, "I'm the one in this fight not him!"

Akabane just smiled and tilted his hat, "I'm afraid that I was aiming at you Ginji-kun. You moved."

Ginji grit his teeth, this could get bad. The room was small, there was hardly any room to maneuver and with Akabane throwing the scalpels around Makubex could get hurt. His eyes darted to the door but Akabane strategically placed himself in the way.

"I'm afraid that I can not let you leave here of your own free will, Ginji-kun." Another set of scalpels was thrown Ginji's way.

"Makubex, you have to get out of here. I'll move him away from the door." Ginji glanced over at Makubex who had moved to a corner with his keyboard.

"Give me thirty seconds Ginji-san. Just thirty." Makubex did not look up but was madly typing away with his good hand.

"What are you – Ahhh!" Ginji threw up a hand blocking Akabane's attack.

"Let's play, Ginji-kun."

Ginji dodged and punched, occasionally lashing out with electricity as soon as he knew that his back was to Makubex.

"Don't go Raitei. Don't go Raitei. Don't go Raitei." Ginji chanted to himself as he fought.

Ginji cried out as three of Akabane's scalpels dove deep into his right leg forcing him so fall. He pushed himself to his hands and knees then stood carefully. The slightest pressure made his leg scream in pain.

"My, my. Not in out best form today now are we Ginji-kun." Akabane's face displayed a bit of disappointment, "Too bad it ended so soon." He started to walk forward when the world around him shifted and became a forest but there was no one else in there. Akabane frowned, "Interrupting my fun isn't very wise Makubex-kun. I may become angered if you keep it up."

Akabane looked around the battlefield playing in his mind how the room had been set up. He quickly threw a wave of scalpels toward the door incase they thought to sneak out, then with two he attacked the area where Makubex and his keyboard had been. There was a crackling sound then the forest disappeared leaving only the keyboard with his scalpel embedded in it. The circuits sizzled and spat in indignation. However, Ginji and Makubex were nowhere to be seen. He turned toward the door to see that it was indeed still shut and that his scalpels were sticking out of the metal. He raised an eyebrow interested at this turn of events when his eyes caught a small crack in the left wall. Walking over to it, he pried the loose panel off to display a narrow duct with blood in it.

"Clever boy, but I do enjoy a good hunt." Akabane chuckled.

End Chapter Six


	7. Chapter 7: Seven and Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

Story disclaimer: Everything in this story was decided by the luck of the draw (the placement of the 7 deadly sins for example). Just so no one gets confused I am here to tell you that it is a story about a cataclysm and the aftermath of. Sometimes the story will be interrupted by scenes for the **actual cataclysm** then it will return to the **actual events before** the catastrophe. The two stories will eventually merge and then we will begin the **Aftermath** which is the real story. BTW This is four years after the end of the GB: Get Back the Future arc so everyone gets to be older yeaaa!

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 7: Seven and Seven

Ban dodged to the left. Damn whoever this was they were a good fighter to say the least. Together neither he nor Shido had managed to lay a finger on the man. He cursed beneath his breath once more. The person was obviously affiliated with whoever it was that had set this situation up. Ban had the feeling that this had all been carefully planned. For a moment in the middle of combat, Ban got a very bad feeling. He found himself shoved to the right.

"Pay attention, bastard!" Shido yelled, "You almost got hit!"

"Something's wrong with Ginji." Ban frowned, "We have to end this little charade now."

"About time you got serious." Shido smirked at him, "You got a plan?"

"Of course Monkey Trainer."

A few quick words were exchanged while evading the energy blasts. Shido tore off to the left of the stranger and leapt forward as if to attack only to veer off at the last moment catching the man's hood and yanking it from his head. Ban appeared suddenly from the right with a jagan ready to go only to see the man's true face. Ban jumped out of the way with a sudden uneasy feeling. He stood up and turned to the man.

"What the hell are you?"

A loud rasping laugh echoed in the hall. The man turned to face the two. Blood was dripping everywhere. Where his face was, there was no skin as if he had been flayed and no eyes were in the empty sockets. The optic cords shook loosely as he laughed, "So you….really want to know? What I am…or rather what you will be."

"What is going on?" Shido looked slightly disturbed.

"Seven….and seven….it makes fourteen. There are…fourteen pieces…in this game." The wet voice sounded harshly, "Seven for the Master…and seven for the god of Babylon. I am here…to pass on the…invitation."

"What are you talking about?" Shido growled out annoyed.

"If the stinking god of Mugenjou is in on this then we aren't playing." Ban glared, "You can tell both of them that when we are done kicking your corpse all over the place."

"Come then…and embrace your sin." A smile stretched across the man's bloody face.

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Kazuki dodged another ki arrow and looked around for the attacker. The person seemed to almost blend into the shadows making all of their attacks useless. His eyes scanned the darkness narrowed waiting for any sign of movement. Juubei had been wounded badly already and was trying to hurriedly patch up his bleeding side. Kazuki was worried. They needed to end this quickly so that Juubei could be properly treated and then have some time to recover. Toshiki was on the prowl for the opponent. Out of them all, he had come the closest to hitting the person. There was a brief shine in the darkness. That is it! Kazuki flicked his bells in the direction of the shine and the string whipped out in a speed quicker than light. There was a slight surprised sound and a scoff. Together Kazuki and Toshiki ran over to see if they had finally managed to catch the attacker. When they got closer, they could see that the string had indeed manage to wind about the person's form but none of the string was actually touching the person's body. It hovered a few inches away from the cloth.

"What a fun little trick but my gift is not for you Fuuchoin Kazuki." The voice giggled and the string was suddenly thrown back from the stranger. They brushed off a sleeve as if in mock, "This is almost as much fun as I thought it would be. Please play with me some more."

"Stop this, who are you?" Kazuki demanded.

"Why what a rude question to ask. But here, let me show you." The stranger removed the hood to reveal a thin starved girl with patches of mismatched flesh stitched upon the bloody face. Handfuls of different colored hair were sticking up from her skull, "I took all these from others. I wanted them. Don't you think they're pretty on me?" She giggled insanely, "Seven and seven. I always liked this game."

"What are you talking about?" Toshiki looked disgusted.

"Why, my little sinner, you should already know." She smiled, "Now enough of this useless chatter. I want to play."

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Emishi felt the presence behind him again, like eyes were boring themselves into his back. It made him want to shiver. He stopped as both Masaki and Teshimine did. Masaki turned around with an angry expression on his face.

"You aren't fooling anyone to be sneaking around like that. If you have something to say get your ass out here and say it!"

A tall cloaked figure appeared out of the darkness. He bowed, "It seems you are getting a bit bored with my company so maybe we should get down to business then." A sword appeared in the man's hand, "Come and join the darkness with me."

He dashed at them almost as quick as one could blink. They all jumped to the side only to be thrown against the first solid object behind them as the man spun around once sending a force of wind at them that was so powerful that it blew them from their feet. He dashed from one to the other separating them further and keeping them unable to regroup or speak at all. To the naked eye, it seemed as if there was several of him at once as his speed exceeded normal vision.

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Fudou had lost what little temper that he had possessed and was tearing into the opponent before him. What had angered him the most was that even with his three-second ability the most he could do was counter the man's attacks. There was just no opening for him to strike. Mido was probably escaping right now. How it burned in his blood the need to destroy him. His overpowering rage nearly made him senseless.

"Get out of my way!" Fudou growled out and insane look in his eyes.

"But you are too much fun to leave yet." The man's smooth voice spoke, "You'll make a very good chess piece for the Master."

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Kaoru followed Kanou as quickly as she could but she could sense someone following her. She glanced to Kanou. He had not noticed yet. She shook her head, the ignorance of youth. It was too late to warn them now. That had to be one of them following her right now. The message had to be sent before they silenced her too. She reached out and grabbed Kanou's arm.

"Ow! What the hell was that you evil bitch!" Kanou grabbed his upper arm, "What did you burn me for?"

"Oh shut up you big baby." Kaoru glared at him, "You just go back to the Core office. I'm going to take care of something. When you get there maybe you should have that looked at, whiner."

"I hate you." Kanou glared at her.

"Yeah, well you aren't a vase of flowers yourself little boy." Kaoru spat back, "I'm out of here."

"Well good riddance! See if I help you again!" Kanou shook in anger for a second before storming off toward the office alone.

Kaoru looked over her shoulder as he left for just a moment and smirked. He was not such a bad kid just had a temper. After all, Masaki had made sure that the brat's big attitude had been sanded down a lot since he had taken to serving under Makubex. She turned her attention to the alley before her. Might as well get this over with.

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Ginji cried out as his wounded leg hit against the side of the duct. He felt Makubex stop pulling him.

"I'm sorry Ginji-san. It's really cramped in here." Makubex's face twisted with worry.

The duct was cramped and Ginji himself barely fit into it with just a little bit of room. That and the smell of blood were making things unbearable. He could not even crawl through the duct on his own will. Makubex had to half pull him. Seeing the worried face, Ginji forced a small smile onto his face, "It's ok Maku-chan."

"I think we're far enough in that Akabane can't get to us yet. Try to press up on one side of the duct. I've got to bind your leg before you bleed to death. It's still quite a ways till we reach an exit."

"You're already putting too much work on your wounded arm. I'll be fine for a while." Ginji smiled again.

"Ginji-san, don't argue with me about this please." Makubex frowned at him.

"Ok, if you really want to." Ginji found that he could not argue well when his leg was burning with pain.

Makubex shrank to one side of the duct and began to worm his way past Ginji to the wounded leg. Ginji let out his breath to try and make more room as the duct soon became quite the tight fit. Ginji felt his cheeks begin to burn from the sheer proximity as Makubex squeezed past him. After getting mostly past, Makubex stopped.

"Ginji-san, I'm going to bind you leg, it'll be just a few." His voice was strained and after a pause he added, "Please try not to breathe so hard or hold your breath, you're going to crush me."

Ginji let his breath out in a hiss of pain as he felt Makubex bind his leg. He took a sharp breath once during a particularly painful moment and heard Makubex make a squeak of pain, "Sorry Maku-chan!" He thought he heard a small 'that's alright' but he could not be sure. The pain was flaring over his body like molten lava as the wound was tampered with. Tears were leaking form the corners of his eyes.

"Ginji-san, it's done. I'm going back now. Are you ok?"

Makubex's soft voice brought Ginji back to the hear-and-now which did not help at all. The here-and-now was the soft warm body of someone he thought he loved pressed up against him and a leg that was screaming obscenities at him. Unable to speak 'leg', Ginji was confused at both. Makubex slid his way back to his place in front of Ginji and straightened out his shirt which had not wanted to return with him. His head cloth was missing. Seeing Ginji's red face, he looked at him worried.

"Ginji-san…are you alright?" Makubex reached out a hand for Ginji's forehead afraid that he might be getting wound sick.

"No, um, yes! I am very A-1 ok!" Ginji quickly put his smile back on, "We should hurry. Ban and the others could be in danger with Akabane-san out to kill them!"

"…ok?" Makubex gave him a disbelieving look then taking hold of the blonde's upper arms returned to pulling him through the duct.

It took them almost another hour of traveling to make it to the exit. Makubex kicked out the plate of metal and then they exited. Ginji looked around to see Paul and the others looking at them. They had made it to the Core office.

"Paul-san!" Ginji exclaimed happily then almost fell to the ground but Paul had caught him.

"What happened?" Paul asked as he helped sit Ginji on the ground.

"Akabane-san tried to kill me." Ginji waved his arms about, "I think he's gone mad! He stabbed me in the leg!"

"I see. Well we'll have to do something about this leg." Paul turned to Makubex, "You did a good job trying to stop the bleeding but we'll probably have to stitch him up."

"I can do it." Sakura walked over with a small medical kit in her hands.

"I'll help." Hevn knelt down beside Ginji.

Ginji cried out in pain as they unwound the cloth from the wound. It did not look good. Hevn winced.

"Do you have any kind of painkiller?"

Sakura shook her head, "We aren't that lucky."

"Wait. I've got something." Paul reached into his inner apron pocket and pulled out a flask. He saw Hevn's shocked stare, "What? Sometimes I need a little something that isn't coffee."

Hevn took it, "Here Ginji drink some of this."

Ginji eyes the bottle suspiciously then took a drink from it. He coughed at the power of the alcohol and decided that Paul must get really stressed out to drink this. With Hevn and Paul coaxing him into it, the flask was half drank and Ginji was sloshed. He was awkwardly waving his arms about as he spoke; the flask had been quickly removed for safety.

"Ahn thash vhen mesh han Baaan-chn vent to s'eesh poleece 'astion." Ginji babbled.

With Paul holding the leg still, Hevn poured what was left of the flask onto the wound. Ginji made a slurred sound of pain and tried weakly to move but he was held fast. Sakura wiped off the wound and then began to painstakingly stitch the loose flesh together. Ginji winced several times but continued his drunken tirade.

"Ahn, ahwoo thash 'urt, theresh aaa tiimee…"

Paul shook his head and made a mental note that if he ever needed to pry some information out of Ginji that getting him drunk would do the trick. He frowned at the wounds that Akabane had given him. How Ginji not passed out sooner from the pain or even the blood loss was far beyond his comprehension. He classified it under the 'Stubborn and Tenacious Ginji' flies. He glanced over at Makubex who was tampering with the computer which had been blank as of three hours ago. Sakura who had finished stitching and was leaving the rebinding of the injury to Hevn walked over to him.

"It went blank all of a sudden a while back. Everything did. I think that one of the lines to the Core must have been cut." She looked worriedly to his hand but did not say anything. He would be upset if she were to worry about him.

"I see." Makubex sighed, "I guess I'll have to go and hit the breaker and switch it to the other line." He stood up, "I'll be right back."

Sakura watched him leave and once again she had a bad feeling.

End Chapter Seven


	8. Chapter 8: Peices of Chess

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

And finally for everyone's entertainment, here is the first part of several battles! All sins, virtues, battle placement, and order were decided with a random draw performed by my sister. It turned out to be very interesting indeed. I hope you will be as amused as I was.

I have to break the fights up a bit….they were too long and I wanted time to think them out. Kazu and Co's and Ban and Shido's fights will be in the next chapter. Ginji got first draw.

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 8: Pieces of Chess

Ginji's Battle: Desire

Natsumi petted Ginji's hair as he slept almost worriedly. They had seen hide nor hair of the others and they had been hearing the strangest sounds in the hall. Inhuman sounds. Even Paul had been on edge for quite some time. It was true that when Makubex and Ginji had suddenly appeared out of the air duct most everyone in the room almost flew into fright. She worried, biting at her lower lip.

"Master…do you think that everyone is alright?"

"Eh?" Paul glanced over at her, "They'll be fine. People like that are made than sterner stuff than most."

"That's right. It would take the world exploding into a thousand pieces to kill them. Especially Ban." Hevn smiled in a comforting gesture. She tucked a blanket around Madoka who had fallen asleep, "We just have to wait patiently and they will get here. Have faith in them. For the Get Backers nothing is impossible."

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Makubex walked quickly through the halls toward the area where the side breakers were kept. He mentally chastised himself for not moving them closer to the Core Office sooner. Then again the whole point was to keep the side breakers and power lines completely separate from the main just incase something like this did happen. That way it would not be impossible to recover power in a timely manner. Finally, he entered into a short alleyway and found a box labeled D-51 Access Panel 17. As he started to open the panel's metal door, he heard a sound behind him then a hand pushed the halfway open door shut. Makubex spun about in a panic and stepped away. He frowned.

"Kagami. What are you doing here?"

"Me? Why I've come to invite you to witness a most spectacular set of events." Kagami smiled. He stepped in front of Makubex as the young man tried to get around him.

"I'm busy at the moment." Makubex glared at him.

"I really must insist, you see, you are a very important guest." Kagami grinned almost sharply.

"Get out of my way." Makubex's brows knit together angrily as Kagami blocked him again.

He moved to dart around the white clad man and escape this tense situation when as he started to move, Kagami grabbed him roughly by the front of his shirt. He was yanked to a stand still in surprise.

"I'm afraid that I can't take no for an answer. Orders from above you see." Kagami's voice played forth coolly, "Besides…" Kagami grabbed Makubex's chin and stared down at him with his annoying arrogant expression, "It would be a shame if I had to hurt this pretty face. Ginji-kun might not like that."

Ninety nine point nine nine eight percent of all Makubex's actions were predetermined calculations of thought and probability but in Mugenjou, some things were developed reflexes. Without a thought in his head, except that Kagami was far too close in his personal space, Makubex drew back his fist and cracked the Observer across the nose. As soon as Kagami's grip was loosened, Makubex quickly back stepped and turned to run back the way he had come. He was not surprised to see three thugs from the Beltline blocking his way. 'Orders from above' meant that someone else had sent Kagami and they had sent these as well. Calculating the arm strength of the man before him and the timing of the man's raising arm, Makubex slammed his open palm onto the man's forearm and vaulted over him and the man behind him. One of them cursed in surprise. Makubex turned to the third man who was rushing at him. He ran at the man as if to try the same trick but at the last moment, he angled to the side and taking two steps up the side of the alley's wall, jumped using momentum and the proper body angle to propel himself toward the opposite wall. He caught the bottom rung of a broken fire escape ladder and reached out for the second run to pull himself to safety. As he stretched out his arm for it, he felt a sudden downward pull.

Glancing down, Makubex saw that thug member number three had grabbed hold of his left ankle. He struggled for a moment and struck out at the offending puller until his other foot was captured as well. He gripped the rung with all of his might but soon found that it was the completely wrong action to take as his right arm burst into pain.

Kagami walked up watching the fight amusedly. He put a hand to his nose for a brief moment. It had not been busted nor broken, in fact it had not even hurt that much but it had startled him. He grinned with a little chuckle. What a clever little stunt that was. Completely impulsive. Even he had to admit that he never saw that one coming. Perhaps it was exposure to Amano Ginji that brought out such irregularities in people.

"Come now, Makubex, let go. It's inevitable that you'll give out before he does. You lack the proper strength to try a trick like that. And, like I said before, it would be quite the shame to have you hurt." Kagami waited patiently as after a few more seconds, Makubex was pulled down.

As soon as his hands released the rung, Makubex coiled himself just a bit and pushed as hard as he could against the one holding his feet. It caused the man to fall backwards into the other two. Makubex fell roughly to the ground but collected himself as quickly as he could. As he got to his feet, the air became filled with shimmering light. Makubex quickly covered his mouth and nose.

"I've never seen you so lively before. I must say it is quite a fascinating change for you. I need not remind you what diamond dust does. Even if you breathe through the fabric, particles will still pass through." Kagami stood a few feet before him with his hands in his pockets. The three thugs on the side were gagging and coughing blood as their innards were shredded to pieces.

"Damn you…" Makubex muffled out before he felt a sharp pain in his chest. In his cough reaction, he tasted blood. The pain in his arm also had yet to stop. The stinging bite of fire that it caused to race through his body was blinding his thoughts.

"Don't worry, I won't let it kill you. Like I said you are an important guest at the event today." Kagami walked forward, "A shame really that you won't be awake for it. And look, now you have blood on your face. Pity."

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It had been a while and Ginji had long since burned off the rest of the alcohol in his system. His leg was hurting less now either due to him becoming accustomed to the pain or from Mugenjou's natural talent at speeding recovery times. A feeling of sudden dread woke Ginji up from his peaceful if somewhat delirious sleep. Ginji sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Gin-chan, how are you feeling?" Hevn smiled at him.

Ginji looked spaced out for a moment then smiled, "I'm much better now, thank you."

"Good, we were worried." Natsumi hugged him, "Please try to be more careful."

"I'm sorry Natsumi-chan." Ginji looked around, "Is Maku-chan gone?"

"He went to go fix the power to the computers." Paul spoke up. He gestured at the blank monitors, "Someone cut the main line. The only reason that we still have light is because there is a back up line for them. Right?"

"Yes." Sakura bowed her head respectfully, "But Makubex has been gone for over an hour now. Even if he had to make repairs…" She wrung her hands worriedly, "He told me to stay and wait but…"

"I'll go check on him." Ginji stood and stretched.

"You're not better yet, please sit back down!" Natsumi grabbed at his arm.

"I'll go." Paul folded his paper and got to his feet.

"No, I'm fine now." Ginji walked several steps, "See? Good as new."

"Are you sure Gin-chan?" Hevn looked concerned, "Paul can go, and it's no big deal."

"I'm sure." Ginji smiled brightly, "Maku-chan is probably just in the middle of fixing something. I'll just tell him that everyone is worried." He started toward the door then stopped and turned slowly around. His face was scrunched up in embarrassment, "Um…where did he go again?"

After getting a set of drawn directions and a verbal telling of them, Ginji set out shrugging off all offers of help stating firmly that he knew where he was going this time for sure. He wandered down a few corridors then stopped to lean against a wall for a moment of rest. His leg still hurt but everyone had tried very hard to treat him so he did not want them to worry anymore. Halfway down the next alleyway, Ginji heard the voice that he was dreading.

"Ah, there you are Ginji-kun. You gave me quite the chase."

"Ahhhhhhh…….."Ginji stiffened up then turned around very slowly, "Akabane…..san…." His brain felt like a deer in the headlights of an eighteen-wheeler. Run away, run AWAY now! Ginji tensed to try to run away.

"You seem a bit tense now. You wouldn't be thinking about leaving so soon would you?" A different voice spoke.

Ginji looked back over his shoulder to see Kagami walking from just around the corner. The Observer had a hand grasping tightly the hair on the back of Makubex's head holding the half-conscious man to his feet.

"Maku-chan!"

"I thought that you might have decided to leave early from the event so I thought to invite Lower Town's successor to the festivities. But I'm sure that if you want to leave right now that he'll provide a small amount of entertainment." Kagami's smile was sharp and threatening.

"You leave Makubex alone!" Ginji's eyes narrowed, "Let him go now!"

"I'm afraid that I can't do that. You see, Akabane-kun has been looking for you all day and it would be rude for you to ignore him. I may be inclined however to return Makubex to you once your prior business arrangement is through." Kagami grinned then turned to Akabane who at first seemed tensely annoyed bordering on angry when he interrupted at first. Akabane merely nodded at him in slight appreciation seeing now that Kagami did not intend to interrupt his fight, merely insuring that it came to pass. Akabane smiled, perhaps now with the right ingredients the Raitei would revive. He felt a shiver of anticipation run though his blood.

"You….you…" Ginji clenched his fist angrily and began to shake.

"Don't be too long. Without some medical attention, I'm afraid that he may have inhaled enough diamond dust to do some serious damage earlier. He was quite stubborn about coming. I may have over done it a bit."

Akabane smiled as he watched Ginji begin to spark with protective fury, "There you are."

Kagami watched with an intent expression the change as it washed over Ginji. He moved off to the side dragging Makubex with him, "This should be very enlightening to watch."

Ginji's facial expression flattened in a silent rage. His skin became luminous from the swirling core of power that was crackling inside of him. Lightening snapped and sparked about his body. The Raitei had emerged. The cold raging eyes fell first upon Kagami who smiled almost ignorantly back at him then Akabane moved into his line of vision. Raitei frowned. In his mind, he registered an enemy to be dealt with immediately. His eyes narrowed in agitation.

"How exciting." Akabane drew forth his scalpels.

Kagami watched as the battle erupted in a sudden explosion of movement and lightening. The speed of their attacks was simply amazing. Kagami even found moments when he nearly lost sight of either fighter. The dark alley was bright now almost as if the sun itself was perched on the street. He noted however that the Raitei was far below his maximum fighting prowess. It was not even half of what he was capable of.

Kagami though on it for a moment then looked down at Makubex who lay heaped on the ground where Kagami had released him so that he could sit atop a pile of rubble and view the fight. He reached down, grabbed the silver ponytail, and pulled Makubex up to a sitting position. He noticed that as soon as he had moved Makubex an inch that Raitei had glared over in his direction. Kagami smiled, "He must be afraid of hurting you. It would be very easy in this narrow way for a stray electrical burst to strike you. I guess that means you are important to even the Raitei."

Akabane felt the adrenaline rushing though his being as he exchanged blows with the Raitei. A small pang of disappointment had struck him at first to notice that the Raitei was holding back. He fought harder hoping to coax a rising fighting potential from his opponent. He dodged to the side of a lightening charged fist with an insane grin. He struck out with his scalpels only to have them batted aside as if they were flies. He brought his bloody sword down for a strike only to have it caught by Raitei's bare hands. The entity glared at him as the blade bit into his flesh a bit but he held strong. The impasse stayed for several moments before the Raitei flung both sword and Akabane to the side. Akabane skidded to a stop with a look of exhilaration on his face. Perhaps it was time to up the ante.

"Bloody Hurricane."

Raitei watched as the silly things sped around him in a tornado movement. How annoying they were. He darted forward only to have them all stab toward him. Throwing his power, Raitei managed to avoid most of the scalpels but was stabbed by others. Bloody and now even angrier, he turned to face Akabane. He wished that the voice in the back of his head would stop telling him to be careful and that this feeling of 'caring' would go away. It was getting in his way. They continued to fight viciously against each other. Regardless of what Akabane did, he could not get the Raitei to increase his power. The result was inevitable in the face of such a set power expenditure. At one crucial moment, Akabane slipped to the side as Raitei came at him and slashed him deeply across the back. Raitei stumbled and fell to the ground. He stared to get back to his feet seething angrily.

"Sorry to spoil your fun, but the time has come to complete the job or we'll be late." Kagami tossed Akabane a knife coated in black blood.

"Akabane snatched it out of the air as if it had been still, "What a shame. It was a bit disappointing."

As the Raitei got to his feet, Akabane threw the knife. It plunged deep into his shoulder. Raitei tore the knife out and glared. Before he could finish his first step, however, he stopped. The change in his presence was almost immediate and for a brief second, a red energy washed over him. On his shoulder appeared a patch that read 'King'. Kagami's attention was ten drawn to Makubex as he saw a flash of blue light from his general vicinity only to see that the young man was standing to his feet illuminated faintly by the blue light. The patch on his shoulder read 'Rook'.

"My, my. This looks to be quite exciting indeed." Akabane looked from one to the other.

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Lucifer's eyes shined briefly, as a mirror appeared before him. He smirked as the image of the Raitei and Makubex flashed into the reflective surface, "Just because you are mad that I got the favored piece to the game is no reason to have a faulty judgment in other pieces. It is an interesting choice your Rook against my King anyway. I wonder how it will turn out. Lust and Chastity. I do believe that your choice was ill picked considering the bond there." He turned to look into a large full size mirror that was beside him and at the blue-cloaked figure that resided in it, "Then again you don't expect him to win this round do you? To protect a piece you'll sacrifice that battle? But will it win you the game I wonder. What kind of clever maneuvers have you been working out?" He waved his hand over the mirror, "Ah, but look another piece is coming into play." Kaoru's image appeared laying unconscious on the ground. Her attacker touched her arm with a bloody hand and in the wave of red, the patch 'Queen' appeared on her shoulder. The mirror shifted to reveal the startled expressions of Paul, Hevn, and Sakura as Natsumi glowed blue and 'Pawn' appeared, "Wrath and Patience. Yet, another as well?" Fudou punched his attacker in the face splattering blood all over himself from the impact. Enveloped by red, 'Pawn' appeared. It shifted back to the Core Office and Hevn was caught up in the blue light. 'Queen' was her patch, "Gluttony and Abstinence. Another so soon? Seems like quite the chin reaction after the first piece was chosen." The mirror's scene shifted to show Toshiki and Kazuki darting all over the room after their opponent.

End Chapter Eight

I hope I did the fights alright if not let me know now so that I will work harder on the ones to come because there are many more. XD


	9. Chapter 9 :Finality of Choice

Disclaimer: I don't own Getbackers….well darn. It would have been nice though and instead of writing fanfiction, I would be making the series! XD how awesome would that be! But unfortunately not.

And finally for everyone's entertainment, here is the first part of several battles! All sins, virtues, battle placement, and order were decided with a random draw performed by my sister. It turned out to be very interesting indeed. I hope you will be as amused as I was.

I won't be able to update for a few weeks due to Christmas hours at work but I will keep writing and will have more to post when my Spring semester starts back up.

Now presenting:

Getbackers : Surviving the Aftermath

Chapter 9: Finality of Choice

Toshiki's Battle: Jealousy

Toshiki rolled to the side avoiding the arrow of energy. Quickly he looked over his shoulder to glance at Kazuki making sure that he was still alright. He lunged at the deranged girl again drawing back his fist to strike her in the face only to have her skillfully move out of his range. He bit down on a curse that attempted to erupt from his mouth. Kazuki did not like it when he cursed. Toshiki looked back again only to see that Kazuki was checking up on Juubei. Hearing a laugh, he sent his attention back to the girl.

"Poor little sinner, I can feel it emanating off of you even now. That's why you were chosen to play. The sin was already inside of you bursting to escape." She laughed insanely again, "It's easier with the ones who harbor the feeling first. Less of a transition you see." She dodged an attack, "Isn't this fun?"

"I don't know what you are talking about but I'm going to end this." Toshiki growled out. Juubei was hurt and Kazuki was growing weary. Any moment now Kazuki could get injured.

The girl frowned, "Don't hide it there behind bravado. It's very unbecoming to try and twist it so. You are no noble." She drew back a fist and aimed her energy arrow at Kazuki, "Better hurry sinner save the thing you want most."

Kazuki rushed over to Juubei's side as soon as he got a break in the battle. It was bad. While he had managed to bandage up his side, Juubei had lost a lot of blood. If he was not taken care of soon he might not make it. Kazuki pushed his panic back down into the back of his mind. It would not help Juubei nor Toshiki if he lost his cool now. He lay the unconscious Juubei flat on the floor hoping that gravity itself would also aid in the staunch of blood flow. The bandages were already a bright red. An image of the Juubei that had helped them five years ago when the present and future met flashed into his mind. Kazuki smiled and brushed the hair from Juubei's forehead.

"You can't die now. Your sight hasn't been returned yet."

"Kazuki, look out!"

Kazuki looked up to see a wave of ki speed at him. His eyes went wide. He could not move if he did then Juubei would be killed. Kazuki leaned down to cover as much of Juubei as he could before impact. Suddenly, a form appeared between him and the attack.

"Toshiki!"

The man was thrown off his feet at the attack stuck him hard in the chest. Toshiki hit the ground rolling for a little ways then got to his feet shakily as he heard Kazuki yelling out his name. He could see that the Thread Master was about to burst into tears. Toshiki heard the girl laughing again.

"This is so rich." She clutched her stomach she was laughing so hard, "Silly little sinner, you have given me quite the exciting day."

Toshiki's eyes narrowed. The attack had not even hurt much. What had she achieved by throwing such a weak attack? His eyes turned back to Kazuki who was running toward him. Then he heard the voice to his immediate left.

"Well now, I'm afraid that the time for fun is over you see…it's time to play the real game."

Without even thinking about it, Toshiki whirled about and struck the girl in the face with his full force. Bits of flesh flew into the air as the stitches holding them together burst through the weak medium. There was a sickening laugh and Toshiki looked down to see blood coating his fist.

"I knew you had it in you somewhere sinner. Ahaahahaha!"

Kazuki's run came to a surprised halt as the girl burst into a fine powdery dust. Only a second later, Toshiki was enveloped by a bright red light that consumed his form. Kazuki shaded his eyes for only a moment when he felt his mind slide back from his consciousness and he was swathed in a cold blue light. When they dimmed, Toshiki's patch read 'Bishop' and Kazuki's patch read 'Knight'.

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"Envy and Prudence. Ah, one of my favorites. Still, you continue to amuse me with your choice of game pieces. And look the final few sets are coming into play." Lucifer looked back to the mirror with the cloaked figure, "Soon we'll be able to begin. Won't this be exciting."

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Ban's Battle: Arrogance

Ban's countenance was narrowed in concentration as he matched his moves with Shido's in their assault. The man was fast but no one could keep the pace forever. He jumped out of the way of a powerful blast. Ban raced up with a punch but was completely sidestepped by the man as if it were nothing. Ban cursed loudly as he had to dodge another attack. He jumped to the side and skidded from the sheer force of his escape jump. Hearing Shido land beside him, Ban looked over at him.

"This is getting ridiculous." Shido growled.

"Make me an opening and I'll end this." Ban's brows knit together in annoyance.

Shido sank into the inner power of the wolf that he was channeling and let it spread into his limbs. The trick was to become one enough with the Beast semblance to use it to its utmost capacity without succumbing to it. An opening he said, well, an opening he would get. Shido darted to the side of the man then sprang to the right slashing out with his claws. He mostly met with air as the man back stepped but still managed to slice into the man's raggedy cloak rending even more tears into it. He circled the man once more resisting the urge to bar his teeth and growl. The way the man fought was almost as if he wanted to only fight Ban. The heightened wolf sense of smell told Shido that this man was a living corpse as the rotting scent of decay filled the air. What was he really? Shido spun about with an angered sound as the man dodged. The dead man chuckled.

"You don't…understand." The man turned suddenly at Shido, "This game… is not for you." He threw an energy blast at the Beast Master, "You….were not… chosen!"

Shido barely dodged to the left by throwing himself to the side. He rolled a few times then managed to get back to his feet. He tensed up as another blast headed his way.

"It is….within you too….but you…were…not chosen." The man turned his disfigured face toward Shido, "Only seven…and seven…"

The man drew back for another attack leaving an opening in his defenses for just a brief moment just enough for Ban to make his move.

"Snake Bite!"

Ban appeared suddenly on the man's right. His hand darted out to the disfigured bloody face. He squeezed. There was a slight resistance but then the man's jaw burst beneath his strength. The effect was almost instantaneous. The cloaked man burst into a fine black powder that littered the air where he had resided and Ban was immediately washed in the luminous red light. Shido stepped back in surprise and watched in awe as the patch 'Knight' appeared on his shoulder. He put up a hand to block out the light. What in the world was this?

"Midou!"

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"Pride and Humility." Lucifer watched the battle with a satisfied smirk then waited while the mirror changed view to see the inside of the Core office again. Paul was lit up this time with the bizarre light. The word 'King' was emblazoned boldly on the patch over his arm. Lucifer raised an eyebrow, "So this is the one you chose. Interesting. I wonder what this will hold. However, why you chose such weak players I shall never know. Ah, look here comes Sloth and Diligence."

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Emishi's Battle: Indolence

Emishi was pushed to the side by Masaki as the sword bearing man raced forward. They were losing. Slowly but surely they were losing to this insane man. Emishi felt the bite of hopelessness. What was going to happen when they finally ran out of luck? No more jokes; that is for sure. Emishi gripped the handle of his whip. There had to be a way to put this man down. He struck out as soon as Masaki was batted to the side. The blond man struck the side of the alley wall and lay there unmoving. He was out of the game for a while. This caused Teshimine to double his efforts to defeat the stranger.

Emishi dodged the sword strike only to receive a blow to the back as the man darted around him. His mind was reeling. What to do, what to do? He could feel his fear rising. That is when he saw it. A banana peel what was something like that…that is it! Emishi smiled to himself. What a clever trick! Now to get it set up.

"Teshimine, can you keep him busy for a moment!" Emishi shouted across the way.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just do it!"

Emishi quickly ran to the side to get his aforementioned item. Teshimine tried his best to keep the man's attention but he was out powered and soon found himself knocked back into a wall to join Masaki. He struggled to get back to his feet.

"Look out Emishi!"

Emishi grinned as the man approached. He stuck out his tongue, "Bet you can't hit me."

Narrowing his eyes, the man darted forward only to have his foot land square on the banana peel. He slipped forward. At that moment of unbalance, Emishi attacked with his whip catching the man in its coils and with a flick of his wrist, it twirled the man in a deadly shredding top. Blood flew all around. Emishi was soon painted in it. Even before the man stopped spinning, he exploded into the powder. Emishi had only a moment to be confused when the light shrouded him. Teshimine started to run over when the blue light encased him. 'Pawn' read Emishi's patch. 'Bishop' for Teshimine.

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"Hmm, you seem to have picked a better player this time. You may have out matched me on this round." Lucifer chuckled amusedly, "Dear me, seems I have forgotten one. Hmm,…where will I find a…, ah, here this one will do nicely." Lucifer pointed to the image of Kagami in the mirror as it scanned through all the people. There was a moment of nothing when a creature leapt out unseen at Kagami and slashed at him. There was a brief scuffle but then the blood was splattered and the red light consumed the Observer. The mirror changed to show the Core Office once more and Sakura became lit with the blue power. 'Rook' appeared on Kagami's patch and 'Pawn' upon Sakura's, "It is all done now. All of our players are ready to divide the sides for us. My side and your side. Good luck, God of Babylon city."

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Himiko bumped into Kanou who was almost to the Core Office. The boy frowned at her.

"Watch where you are going lady."

"Aw, shut up brat." Himiko frowned, "This is the way back to the Core right? That's where everyone will go I am sure."

"Yeah, it's this way."

Himiko followed Kanou. All those lights that had burst into the sky were frightening her. What did they mean? Something bad was going to happen, she could just feel it. As they entered the Core Office, it was very quiet.

"Hello?" Himiko started in pushing Kanou out of the way, "Is anybody here?"

"There's a girl over here." Kanou said suddenly.

Himiko hurried over to see Madoka sleeping in a corner. If she was here alone, where was everyone else? She got a horrible nervous feeling as she noticed Paul's paper laying on the ground nearby. The other had been here so where did they go and why? This did not bode well.

"What do we do now?" Kanou looked horribly confused and a lot nervous. Obviously, this had not been what he had expected either.

"Well, we should probably stay for a while to see if they come back. They might have had to go somewhere for some whacked out reason. If they don't return soon then we'll have to head out and look for them." Himiko frowned, "They wouldn't have left Madoka behind if they were going to leave somewhere."

"Maybe they were taken." Kanou tapped his fans nervously together.

"Then why leave Madoka?" Himiko sat down, "Something weird is going on. I just can't put my finger on what it is. But your job until we find everyone else is going to be to guard Madoka."

"Why me? I don't even know her." Kanou looked offended.

"Just do it brat. She's a friend of Ginji's so unless you want to have to explain yourself when we catch back up to Ginji and that other guy, then you had best do as I say." Himiko gave him a challenging look.

"Fine, fine….whatever. I don't care." Kanou pouted then sat down in a huff crossing his arms.

"Good. As long as we're clear on that." Himiko looked to the computers, "I wonder if I can get this to work."

End Chapter Nine

By the way I've been forgetting to mention it but a great big thanks and many kowtows of appreciation to MikaSamu for your two reviews. I really would have stopped writing this story a while back thinking that no one liked it if you hadn't reviewed. I really appreciate your support. Thanks a bunch.


	10. Chapter 10:The Price of Defeat

Disclaimer: Well, I don't own Getbackers. Love it to death but none for me. L But bwhahahahah I have my evil fan fiction habits to help with that. Sorry to everyone for the wait but it's been a wild ride of life for me and now with out constant internet access I've gotten a bit rusty. Please forgive. bows I will finish this I promise. Then maybe at some con somewhere you'll see me running about. : It's good to be back.

Story Disclaimer: Luck of the draw this whole thing was indeed. At the end of the next chapter I will show everyone what the three draws actually came out to being; they were quite funny. Ginji got Lust twice so I had to let him have it lol. Set 4 years after _Getbackers: Get Back the Future_. And to anyone interested I've already started the follow up story for _Getback the Future _(the one about how Juubei gets his sight back) and hopefully will be posting on it soon.

Now Presenting Once More:

**Getbackers: Surviving the Aftermath**

Chapter 10: The Price of Defeat

Lucifer grinned. Fingers laced carefully, he coolly watched his mirrors. Everything was going perfectly. It had been quite a feat using the power of only twenty telekinetically empowered humans to force the barrier over Shinjuku but still he had done it. The biological virus bomb itself had been quite a pain to have constructed under such short time but tainting the minds of the humans who had done it had been simple. After all humans were easy to coerce with the right stimulus. Then to call forth his minions The Seven, the lazy creatures they were had been most difficult but now… now the game was ready to begin, and he had the upper hand. How could he lose? They had been in the middle of the game when the idea of making it a more real battle had crossed his mind. It had been simple to trick the God of Babylon into agreeing. The entity had faith in the humans but he would show what pathetic weak creatures they really were.

Then, when it was over, the God of Babylon would concede to defeat and Mugenjou would be his. Then with his "pieces" he would turn this twisted little world into a Hell like no other. He could scarcely wait. He chuckled to himself the gestured in a grand bow to the shadowed form of the God of Babylon.

"While the rest of our pieces are moving into position, the first move is yours."

He watched the form raise it's hand and a piece on the chess board on his left that was only a projection of pure green light moved across the board where pieces had already been in battle. He barely contained his laughter.

"The Pawn to defeat my Queen? Well, let's see how this turns shall we my risk taking friend."

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Natsumi walked down the corridors with a speed that only one who knew without a doubt where their destination was would use. She flung open a door and entered into a wide expanse where Kaoru awaited with her arms crossed, a look of arrogance painted skillfully across her face. Natsumi's eyes were longer the wide innocent ones that belonged to her but were rather illuminated with a cold bright blue light, blank and emotionless. They bore intensely into Kaoru's which remained the same only filled with cruelty and a violent hatred that swirled uncontained in the depths of her soul. Wrath was a second nature to her. A wicked smile cut across her beautifully painted red lips.

"Took you long enough wretch." The venomous words dripped forth.

"You will die demon." Came the patient cold reply.

Natsumi drew from he small school bag a ping pong paddle. At her waist was a pouch filled with the small plastic balls. She slowly reached in and pulled out a handful in preparation. Kaoru laughed snidely and stretched out her hand. With a snap of her fingers, flame ignited and coursed to lick across her fingers. She narrowed her eyes in fierce rage.

"Bring it on little girl."

Natsumi threw a ball up into the air and struck it with the paddle. It shot across the room at the Fire Witch with the force of being thrown by an F5 tornado. The ball burst into flames and turned to ash as it approached Kaoru. With a horrible mocking laugh, the Fire Witch flung out her wrist to throw a wave of fire at the Honky Tonk waitress. Natsumi dove to the left out of the way.

"Is that the best you can do? Pathetic!"

Even before the girl got to her feet she had to roll out of the way of another attack. Natsumi tossed several of the balls into the air and struck them at the same time. Kaoru waved her hand igniting most of them but had to move as two of them shot through. They struck her smartly across the face.

"You little bitch!!" Kaoru spat out viciously.

Natsumi move slowly to the side as tough it were nothing when another wave of flame blasted her way. She threw three more balls into the air and struck. Kaoru once again raised her wall of fire, incinerating the plastic projectiles. This time, however, when she lowered the flame barrier, Natsumi was no longer standing before her. Kaoru narrowed her eyes angrily and quickly turned behind herself expecting the Honky Tonk waitress to be there for a sneak attack but she was not there either. The Fire Witch's eyes roamed the silent area for her prey when the world before her exploded into fiery white stars and then became black darkness.

Natsumi watched with the cold eyes as her enemy fell before her, "Return to Hell."

She dropped the stick of wood that she was holding as the words on both their patches disappeared into nothingness. The blue energy swirling inside her wide innocent eyes slowly drew out and moved into Kaoru dissipating the evil red aura that had consumed the Fire Witch. The waitress fell to her knees holding her head for a few moments and when she looked up her eyes were void of the blue taint, normal and a bit confused. She saw Kaoru and moved to the older woman's side. She shook her shoulder gently.

"Um, are you alright, Miss?" Natsumi watched the unconscious woman worriedly. What had just happened? Was she not just in the Core Office? "Where am I?"

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Lucifer ground his teeth angrily. How dare a mere pawn defeat his queen? Quickly regaining his cool he took a breath and ran a hand through his hair casually, "I must admit your decision there was a good choice but it'll cost you dearly. That rook you kept will fall before my King."

He grinned in satisfied anger as the pieces moved again. The God of Babylon's precious player was going to be defeated. He was not spiteful, no, it was all fair. Unlike the God of Babylon, his price for losing was not so kind.

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Akabane had watched with much curiosity when the strange reptilian black scaled creature had attacked Kagami. It was dead now but Kagami had become a player in the game as well. He was disappointed slightly. He was looking forward to enjoying a comment on the fight at hand with the quick witted Observer. He had always enjoyed Kagami's intellect and opinions. That is how they balanced their relationship. He was a very amusing person. Still, at least he would be able to enjoy the bloodbaths to come. Akabane smiled as he watched Kagami walk away. Whatever fight he was off to, the Transporter knew that he would win. It was as simple as that. While it would be amusing to watch he was, however, more interested in the one before him. He briefly wondered how much potential he would witness.

The two stood in a stalemate of motionlessness, Makubex and Ginji who seemed to be somewhere halfway between himself and the Raitei. Ginji crackled with energy, his eyes sparkling with a dark cunning that not even the Raitei himself possessed. The young king of Mugenjou's eyes were vacant of the infinite equations and plans, only a blue blankness remained. His face however, was grim and determined. A lazy pleased smile crossed Ginji's face in defiance to the frown on his opponent. A wind blew though causing the electricity twisting around Ginji to snap viciously at it. For a while nothing moved save for the violent lightning and the tail of shimmering silver. Ginji raised a hand casually.

"Come, shall we dance my wingless angel?"

Makubex jumped back half a step and stretched out his hand. Menus, small screens, and files leapt from the empty air to twist about his arm and a keyboard appeared eagerly at his fingertips. His hand typed with incredible speed and a bright flash shot out from his arm. With a simple bat of his arm, Ginji deflected the attack to the side destroying some nearby scenery. Grin still in place, he ran at Makubex .

Akabane watched the near one sided battle. It was not as fierce as it could have been as Ginji was only casually deflecting the attacks and chasing the little ruler of Lower Town about the battlefield. He was not disappointed regardless of Ginji's lack of attack. He never knew that Makubex had possessed such a power at all. He made a note to keep an eye on the little ruler for further progress. He just may become fun.

"Stop this nonsense." Ginji's soft voice spoke as he parried another attack, "You may hurt yourself." He nodded at the bandaged arm, "Surely it must pain you."

A wave of presence washed briefly over the vacant face as Ginji spoke but it did not stay long. Akabane raised a brow amused, so the battle was already lost was it?

"Come now, you don't really want to fight me do you?" He spoke again as Makubex leapt back another few feet to try again. He put a hand to his forehead sadly, "Poor little Makubex, always trapped in the will of the God of Babylon." Ginji flicked out a hand blocking the wave of energy and held it out invitingly, "I will save you. Stop fighting and I will take you back from the God of Babylon. You do not belong to that will."

Some of the determined concentration fell from the mask of a face. Several of the files and menus disappeared. It was only that much easier for Ginji to evade and toss aside the weakened power. He waited several moments more before moving into his dash tactic again. This time he made it close enough to brush the side of Makubex's cheek. The younger man jerked away and nearly stumbled. In a defensive response, even more files and screens appeared. The battle seemed renewed. Ginji shook his head the way a parent would.

"Be on guard, we shall match strength then."

Ginji let the next attack approach him then at the last moment held out a hand in a stopping gesture electricity hissing like angry snakes. Carefully he pushed the energy back with his lightning until it was held at a mid place. Mugenjou itself seemed to strain under the drawing of so much of it's power from both sides. It seemed to bow beneath the struggle. Sweat broke over the concentrated pale brow as Makubex tried to push the energy forward to no avail. Mugenjou recognized it's true master's commands and refused to lend him more. At last no longer able to keep under the strain, Makubex's hand made a painful cracking sound and he dropped the attack with a cry. Holding the wounded arm by the other, his emotionless eyes watched the oncoming released lightning flow at him. They started to close to the imminent defeat but as the lightning would have hit, it instead parted to either side of him. Confusion crossed the blank face.

Out of the lighting Ginji appeared so fast there was no time to react. He took hold of the wounded arm by the elbow with a small frown, "I told you this would happen." His lightning sparked over the bleeding hand as the bandages turned red, caressing it. Without looking, he caught the wrist of the arm that flew up to strike him. Ginji's smile turned dark with desire, "Why fight me, angel? You know you were always mine and mine alone." He caught the blank eyes with his own as Makubex strained to shove him back, "Come with me and rest."

He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss onto the silent lips. He felt the arms cease their force and remain still. Makubex was frozen, uncertainty filled his face. The determination of battle left his expression entirely and he looked as if he had forgotten what he was doing merely standing there blankly. Ginji's smile sharpened in a way that had never before graced his lips, then he pulled his young successor into a hug wrapping his arms around him in a possessive way. It was over, he had won. The blue light the had been inside Makubex's eyes faded out like a dying fire and finally disappeared. His eyes became dilated unfocused disks as his will left entirely leaving only a living doll. The word 'Rook' faded from his patch only to be replaced by a lightning bolt. Ginji ruffled Makubex's hair with a smug expression.

"See you feel better already don't you?" He tilted the unmoving face up to look at him, "Don't worry, I'll take very good care of my silver haired angel."

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Lucifer smiled. Heh, that was a satisfactory win and now he had in his control the two most valuable elements of Mugenjou. If he were underhanded, he could perhaps gain power over Mugenjou now but it was not in his nature to quit a game so early. He folded his hands again.

"Your move I believe." The pieces moved and his eye glinted, "Your queen versus my pawn? Hm, I must say that was a terrible move on your part."

End of Chapter 10

More to come soonish I have the internet now ahahahahahahh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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